20). Shortchanging disadvantaged students: An analysis of intra-district spending patterns in Ohio

Over the last three decades 45 states have been confronted with school finance lawsuits. This phenomenon has led to a proliferation of school funding equity studies. However, to date, most studies of the equity of state school finance systems have focused on differences in expenditures between school districts. More recent research has found evidence that this approach overlooks important allocation decisions made at the district level, thus failing to identify continuing inequity. The few studies that have examined intra-district spending have only focused on a few, large metropolitan districts. This study expands on that work by analyzing how 70 high-poverty districts across the state of Ohio, regardless of urbanization level, distribute resources among individual schools. The results indicate that state funding equity efforts are being contravened by districts and the way that districts allocate their funds to individual schools. Specifically, we find evidence that a vast majority of high poverty school districts are distributing resources inequitably among schools. This may help to explain the disconnect between increased supplemental funding for disadvantaged students in the state and the persistence of the achievement gap despite it