Do poorer school districts have a tougher time passing supplemental school levies? Here’s some more evidence. To take one more look at Idaho’s growing reliance on supplemental school property tax levies, I work on one more math problem. I looked at the 115 districts’ 2013-14 market value — and their 2013-14 enrollment — to look at market value per student. The disparity, of course, is wide — but that’s no surprise. Critics of Idaho’s school funding model say the property tax places an unfair burden on poorer school districts, since residents have to pay a disproportionate share to float a levy. And this, according to critics, violates the state constitution — which mandates a thorough and uniform public school system. The richest district, per pupil, is North Idaho’s tiny Avery School District, with 16 students and $117.7 million in market value. That equates to more than $7.3 million per student. The poorest district, East Idaho’s Sugar-Salem district, has $250.6 million in market value, but 1,583 students. That comes out to $158,000 per student/Kevin Richert, IdahoED NEWS. More here.

Thoughts?