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Page 10 The Skanner September 7, 2016 News DIVIDED AMERICA: In Recovery, Many Poor Schools Left Behind By Sara Burnett and Larry Fenn Associated Press WAUKEGAN, Ill. (AP) — Consider Waukegan and Stevenson, two Illinois school districts separated by 20 miles — and an enormous inancial gulf. Stevenson, mostly white, is lush with resources. The high school has ive dif- ferent spaces for theater performanc- es, two gyms, an Olympic-size pool and an espresso bar. Meanwhile Waukegan, with its most- ly minority student body, is struggling. At one school, the band is forced to practice in a hallway, and as many as 28 students share a single computer. EDITOR’S NOTE — This is part of Di- vided America, AP’s ongoing exploration of the economic, social and political divi- sions in American society. Last year, Stevenson spent close to $18,800 per student. Waukegan’s ex- penditure? About $12,600. And the gap has only been getting wider — here in the suburbs north of Chicago, and in many places across the nation. In the years following the 2008 inancial crisis, school districts serving poor communities generally have been hit harder than more aluent districts, according to an Associated Press analy- sis of local, state and federal education spending. The result has been a worsening of America’s rich schools, poor schools divide — and its racial divide, because many poor districts are also heavily minority. It also perpetuates the per- ception that the system is rigged in fa- vor of the haves, at the expense of the have-nots — a major driver of Ameri- ca’s angst in this election year. The AP found that aid to local dis- tricts from the federal government surged ater the economic downturn, as part of the stimulus, but then re- ceded. Schools were let to rely more on state funding that has not bounced back to pre-recession levels. And poor- er districts that cannot draw on healthy property tax bases have been let in the lurch. The efects vary widely across the 50 states. Each has its own unique funding formula. For example, per-pupil spending in poorer Missouri districts fell behind richer districts in 2013 — the irst time in a well over decade. Most rich districts have seen a steady increase in revenue while poorer dis- tricts — such as Louisiana RII, a pre- dominantly white district 80 miles northwest of St. Louis — have seen cuts since 2010. That rural district has start- ed waiting longer to replace textbooks, and it will likely abandon initiatives to distribute new computers and to bring wireless internet into classrooms. Todd Smith, the superintendent, said the dis- trict will likely seek a tax increase or a bond sale because there isn’t enough money for basic maintenance. “We ind ourselves more and more dipping into our reserves,” Smith said. In Connecticut’s largest city, Bridge- port, schools have struggled with cuts in state and federal grants, Superinten- dent Frances Rabinowitz said. And the “ In this Tuesday, June 7, 2016 photo, students play basketball outside at Little Fort Elementary school in Waukegan, Ill. In the years following the 2008 inancial crisis, school districts serving poor communities generally have been hit harder than more aluent districts, according to an Associated Press analysis of local, state and federal education spending. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski) The impact can be long-lasting, re- searchers say. A study for the nonprof- it and non-partisan National Bureau of Economic Research tracked students enrolled in districts where there was a prolonged increase in school funding. Students educated in lush times in- ished more years of school, were less likely to live in poverty as adults, and made about 7.25 percent more in wages. The widening funding gap that favors richer schools in Illinois is an extreme example. For schools in the poorest 25 percent of Illinois districts, as measured by child poverty rates, per-pupil funding stalled at around $13,500 in 2014, the most recent year for which full data are available. Meanwhile, per-pupil funding climbed to over $15,000 in the wealthiest 25 percent. Alejandra Ocampo, last year’s se- nior class president at Waukegan High School, said the disparities are plain to see. When her athletic teams would trav- el to other schools for competitions, the aluence was clear from the min- ute they pulled up, Ocampo says. And sometimes when those opposing teams would show up to Waukegan, they would hear the chatter: “This is it?” or “Why is their locker room like a dun- geon?” ‘I feel like I am cutting the lifeblood of the system’ gap widens between her district and neighboring, aluent Fairield County towns with smaller class sizes and stu- dents with far fewer needs. The result? No aides for kindergarten classrooms, or guidance counselors for elementary schools. “I feel like I am cutting the lifeblood of the system,” said Rabinowitz, whose schools are more than 80 percent black or Hispanic. Over the past ive years, Waukegan District 60 lost $43 million in state aid because Illinois cut education fund- ing, according to Gwendolyn Polk, associate superintendent of business and inancial services. The district did its best to keep the cuts from afecting the classroom, which meant putting of regular maintenance and cobbling to- gether funds to deal with emergencies. Stevenson District 125, in contrast, educates students in an area northwest of Chicago that’s home to upper-class professionals and corporate headquar- ters, the kind of districts parents move into in hopes of giving their children a leg up. Stevenson has felt minimal im- pact from state budget cuts, spokesman Jim Conrey said. Ocampo plans to study education and Spanish in college this fall. She’s proud of where she comes from, but she says some more money would be helpful in ways that go beyond better facilities or more teachers. “I feel like funding is more of a mo- tivational git than an actual physical git,” she said. “It’s how it makes you feel about yourself.” Fenn reported from New York. Asso- ciated Press writers Michael Melia in Hartford, Connecticut, Carolyn Thomp- son in Bufalo, New York, and Carrie Antlinger in Lincolnshire, Illinois, also contributed to this report.