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Expenditures for students in poverty weighted by: Total Highest- poverty districts High- middle poverty districts Low- middle poverty districts Lowest- poverty districts Percent difference between highest- and lowest-poverty districts1
  2007-08
Unweighted $10,460
10% $10,356
20% $10,254
30% $10,155
40% $10,057
50% $9,961
60% $9,867
70% $9,775
80% $9,684
90% $9,596
100% $9,508
  1997-98
Unweighted $6,669
10% $6,562
20% $6,459
30% $6,359
40% $6,262
50% $6,168
60% $6,076
70% $5,988
80% $5,901
90% $5,818
100% $5,736
1 Percent difference was calculated by dividing the difference between expenditures in the highest-poverty districts from that in lowest-poverty districts by the expenditures in lowest-poverty districts. A positive percentage indicates that the highest-poverty districts spent more money per pupil than the lowest-poverty districts. A negative percentage indicates that the highest-poverty districts spent less money per pupil than the lowest-poverty districts.
Based on an assumption that additional per-pupil spending is appropriate to meet the additional needs of students in poverty, the Dashboard indicator weights the number of poor students, defaulting to a factor of 40% (taken from the Department's Title I formula) when calculating per-pupil expenditures. Users may use alternative weights, including no additional weight, if they prefer.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service, unpublished tabulations based on U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, "Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates," 1997–98 and 2007–08; and U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Common Core of Data (CCD), "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 1997–98 and 2007–08.
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↑ Significant increase.
↓ Significant decrease.
↔ No significant change.

— Not available.
† Not applicable.
‡ Reporting standards not met.
# Rounds to zero.
! Interpret data with caution.
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