Does spending more money per student improve school results? Comparing York County schools and the Williamsburg-James City County schools suggests otherwise.
This is budget season in Virginia, and school administrators – like every other government official -- routinely seek more funding to pay for staff raises, program improvements and inflation.
Spending more on the schools, we are told, is an investment in the future and improves students’ education.
But comparing the two neighboring school systems’ statistics on the Virginia Department of Education website shows that isn’t always the case.
Neither York County nor WJCC schools spent as much per pupil as the state average of $15,573 in the 2022-2023 school year, the last year available on the state web site.
But at $14,413 per student, WJCC schools spent 14% more per pupil than York County’s $12,629. That spending includes federal dollars sent to the schools, which is higher in York because of the large military presence there.
Yet York …