Abstract: Access to high quality public schooling varies widely across the 13,000+ local public school districts and
100k+ schools in the United States. School quality and student outcomes also vary significantly across
our 50+ largely independent state and territorial school systems. Much of that variation within and across
states arises from variations in the ability of states and local communities to raise and provide adequate
funding for high quality schooling, while an equal share lies in vast discrepancies in the political will to
adequately and equitably fund public schools. This presentation will address conceptions of equity and
adequacy in school finance and provide a lay of the land of intra- and inter-state disparities in school
funding. Many persistent disparities fall sharply along racial lines and this is no coincidence or mere
incidental correlation. This presentation will also discuss the historical backdrop of racial discrimination
in housing and the intersections between housing discrimination, school segregation and inequalities in
access to equal educational opportunity through school funding.