While the U.S. is one of the most educated countries in the world, it doesn’t provide the same quality elementary school or secondary school education to all students. In many states, more affluent school districts receive a greater amount of funding per student than poorer districts, with one estimate claiming that low-income districts are underfunded by around $6,700 per pupil.
Discrepancies between the rich and poor have been exacerbated even more due to the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Low-income students have suffered the greatest “learning loss” due to partial or total remote learning. One contributing factor is that people in low-income districts are less likely to have the technological resources they need.
States that provide equitable funding to all school districts can help prevent poor students from having lower graduation rates, lower rates of pursuing higher education and smaller future incomes than their wealthy peers. The difference is dramatic: College graduates have $154 - $1,115 higher median weekly earnings than people with a high school diploma and no college experience, depending on the degree.
New Mexico has the 15th least equitable school districts in the U.S. overall, but some districts within the state are fairer than others. To find out where school funding is distributed most equitably, WalletHub scored 89 districts in New Mexico based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
Main Findings
Note: For visual purposes, we included only the top 7 school districts by enrollment from each category. Rank 1 on the “Expenditures Ranking” means highest expenditures and Rank 1 on “Income Ranking” means lowest income.
Most & Least Equitable School Districts in New Mexico
| Rank* | School District | Score | Expeditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools per Pupil | Income by School District |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texico Municipal Schools | 0.27 | $12,418 | $59,602 |
| 2 | Chama Valley Indep. Schools | 0.35 | $16,434 | $48,487 |
| 3 | Magdalena Municipal Schools | 1.96 | $24,114 | $25,580 |
| 4 | Jemez Mountain Public Schools | 1.98 | $21,356 | $33,403 |
| 5 | Jal Public Schools | 2.35 | $13,898 | $56,641 |
| 6 | Zuni Public Schools | 3.18 | $16,814 | $45,731 |
| 7 | Cimarron Municipal Schools | 3.61 | $17,455 | $47,137 |
| 8 | Mosquero Municipal Schools | 4.21 | $19,981 | $36,250 |
| 9 | Lovington Municipal Schools | 5.22 | $11,272 | $65,463 |
| 10 | Artesia Public Schools | 6.54 | $10,840 | $61,105 |
| 11 | Carrizozo Municipal Schools | 6.63 | $21,750 | $36,375 |
| 12 | Dulce Independent Schools | 7.36 | $17,346 | $42,237 |
| 13 | Moriarty-Edgewood School District | 7.51 | $12,275 | $63,704 |
| 14 | Penasco Independent Schools | 7.70 | $16,652 | $44,044 |
| 15 | Albuquerque Public Schools | 8.09 | $11,987 | $57,112 |
| 16 | Lordsburg Municipal Schools | 8.11 | $18,041 | $39,906 |
| 17 | Floyd Municipal Schools | 8.18 | $13,925 | $51,563 |
| 18 | Loving Municipal Schools | 8.26 | $12,734 | $54,909 |
| 19 | Hobbs Municipal Schools | 8.50 | $10,795 | $60,300 |
| 20 | Mora Independent Schools | 8.58 | $20,790 | $31,875 |
| 21 | San Jon Municipal Schools | 8.73 | $22,072 | $36,458 |
| 22 | Quemado Independent Schools | 8.81 | $23,133 | $33,480 |
| 23 | Carlsbad Municipal Schools | 9.24 | $9,867 | $71,366 |
| 24 | Santa Fe Public Schools | 9.43 | $11,667 | $66,344 |
| 25 | Dora Municipal Schools | 10.42 | $16,890 | $51,979 |
| 26 | Rio Rancho Public Schools | 12.06 | $10,657 | $70,462 |
| 27 | Espanola Public Schools | 12.15 | $14,444 | $48,206 |
| 28 | Dexter Consolidated Schools | 13.91 | $14,691 | $46,667 |
| 29 | Tatum Municipal Schools | 15.00 | $14,948 | $59,667 |
| 30 | Hagerman Municipal Schools | 15.21 | $16,547 | $55,227 |
| 31 | Maxwell Municipal Schools | 15.27 | $20,818 | $43,125 |
| 32 | Bernalillo Public Schools | 15.37 | $15,035 | $59,596 |
| 33 | Mountainair Public Schools | 15.78 | $19,195 | $47,976 |
| 34 | Melrose Public Schools | 16.18 | $12,873 | $50,750 |
| 35 | Los Lunas Public Schools | 16.55 | $10,230 | $58,085 |
| 36 | Grants-Cibola County Schools | 16.73 | $13,674 | $48,214 |
| 37 | Tularosa Municipal Schools | 18.19 | $14,772 | $44,401 |
| 38 | Santa Rosa Consolidated Schools | 18.67 | $17,862 | $35,397 |
| 39 | Taos Municipal Schools | 18.93 | $13,752 | $46,948 |
| 40 | Elida Municipal Schools | 19.11 | $18,247 | $52,250 |
| 41 | Cobre Consolidated Schools | 19.38 | $17,298 | $36,662 |
| 42 | Cloudcroft Municipal Schools | 20.75 | $16,418 | $58,223 |
| 43 | Springer Municipal Schools | 21.23 | $21,235 | $44,773 |
| 44 | Fort Sumner Municipal Schools | 22.11 | $18,220 | $32,750 |
| 45 | Farmington Municipal Schools | 23.16 | $10,574 | $53,965 |
| 46 | Central Consolidated Schools | 23.84 | $16,424 | $37,025 |
| 47 | Bloomfield Schools | 24.94 | $12,818 | $46,745 |
| 48 | Grady Municipal Schools | 25.11 | $16,506 | $60,045 |
| 49 | Eunice Municipal Schools | 25.23 | $12,654 | $71,042 |
| 50 | Estancia Municipal Schools | 25.45 | $16,288 | $36,651 |
| 51 | Portales Municipal Schools | 25.79 | $12,672 | $46,759 |
| 52 | Animas Public Schools | 27.91 | $18,750 | $55,000 |
| 53 | Socorro Consolidated Schools | 29.16 | $13,587 | $42,557 |
| 54 | Pojoaque Valley Public Schools | 29.27 | $10,041 | $52,579 |
| 55 | Las Cruces Public Schools | 29.97 | $10,942 | $49,684 |
| 56 | Alamogordo Public Schools | 30.59 | $11,418 | $48,039 |
| 57 | Roswell Independent Schools | 30.70 | $11,661 | $47,299 |
| 58 | West Las Vegas Public Schools | 30.77 | $15,020 | $37,725 |
| 59 | Clovis Municipal Schools | 30.86 | $10,464 | $50,619 |
| 60 | Questa Independent Schools | 31.26 | $15,823 | $64,909 |
| 61 | Hondo Valley Public Schools | 34.99 | $24,789 | $41,211 |
| 62 | Clayton Municipal Schools | 35.44 | $16,177 | $32,219 |
| 63 | Aztec Municipal Schools | 35.51 | $12,010 | $44,021 |
| 64 | Belen Consolidated Schools | 35.64 | $10,998 | $46,833 |
| 65 | Ruidoso Municipal Schools | 35.96 | $11,493 | $45,274 |
| 66 | Cuba Independent Schools | 36.31 | $19,769 | $21,604 |
| 67 | Gallup-Mckinley Cty Schools | 38.24 | $13,098 | $39,636 |
| 68 | Capitan Municipal Schools | 39.22 | $18,602 | $60,795 |
| 69 | Las Vegas City Public Schools | 39.26 | $14,058 | $36,425 |
| 70 | T Or C Municipal Schools | 42.52 | $13,684 | $35,939 |
| 71 | Silver Consolidated Schools | 43.51 | $11,852 | $40,669 |
| 72 | Jemez Valley Public Schools | 44.71 | $18,105 | $64,813 |
| 73 | Gadsden Independent Schools | 44.92 | $12,536 | $38,055 |
| 74 | Pecos Independent Schools | 45.13 | $14,682 | $31,863 |
| 75 | Raton Public Schools | 46.43 | $12,784 | $36,637 |
| 76 | Mesa Vista Consolidated Schools | 48.87 | $17,393 | $22,384 |
| 77 | Logan Municipal Schools | 51.97 | $13,674 | $31,477 |
| 78 | Tucumcari Public Schools | 53.41 | $13,043 | $32,585 |
| 79 | Deming Public Schools | 53.56 | $12,550 | $33,914 |
| 80 | Hatch Valley Public Schools | 61.27 | $13,122 | $28,628 |
| 81 | Des Moines Municipal Schools | 67.27 | $25,022 | $55,882 |
| 82 | Reserve Public Schools | 68.87 | $31,860 | $37,222 |
| 83 | Wagon Mound Public Schools | 69.26 | $31,427 | $38,635 |
| 84 | Lake Arthur Municipal Schools | 74.72 | $25,479 | $58,125 |
| 85 | Roy Municipal Schools | 77.71 | $33,962 | $35,450 |
| 86 | House Municipal Schools | 103.60 | $34,000 | $47,639 |
| 87 | Vaughn Municipal Schools | 124.48 | $40,182 | $40,000 |
| 88 | Los Alamos Public Schools | 133.85 | $12,289 | $123,677 |
| 89 | Corona Municipal Schools | 167.91 | $38,698 | $64,844 |
*1=Most Equitable
Methodology
In order to rank the states with the most and least equitable school districts, WalletHub first scored 12,870 school districts throughout the U.S. based on two metrics: average household income and expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools per pupil.
For expenditures, for each 1 percent above the state's average we removed 1 point from a base score of 50 points for each district. For household income, for each 1 percent above the state's average we added 1 point to a base score of 50 points for each district. The inverse was true for each 1 percent below the state's average.
The final score for each district was calculated by taking the absolute difference between the score for expenditures and the score for household income. We then ranked the districts based on the total score, with the lowest value, representing the most equitable, being ranked 1.
Sources: Data used to create this ranking were collected from of the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics.
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