As we previously stated, we’re writing a series on some of the social justice issues the Bronx is dealing with.  In the first post of this series, we discussed the implications of redlining – how the federal government systematically devalued the land, people and stories of  communities of color.  In this post, we’ll show another implication of redlining in our borough, in the form of education inequality.

Education is an elusive subject.  There are so many opinions on what education means, what it offers, and how it should be implemented.  We’ll give a very brief overview of our current education system, then we’ll discuss how it’s funded (focusing on property taxes), and finally we’ll discuss some of the consequences of how schools are funded (in light of redlining, overcrowding, and staffing).

Horace Mann helped shaped both the common public schools as well as pioneered the idea that a professionalized teaching workforce would be the foundation for educational reform.  He had six principles:

• Citizens cannot maintain both ignorance and freedom
• Education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public
• Education should be provided in schools that embrace children from varying backgrounds
• Education must be nonsectarian (non-religious)
• Education must be taught using tenets of a free society
• Education must be provided by well-trained, professional teachers.

He believed that by creating tuition-free, tax-funded, compulsory education would be the catalyst that ends the ills of society. As Horace Mann stated, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is the great equalizer of the conditions of men, the balance-wheel of the social machinery.”  There’s a lot of debate on the impact of the Industrial Revolution on the creation of these public schools.  Some believe that schools were birthed out of a need to create a compliant workforce that fits within our current economic system (and that of Europe, since Horace Mann was heavily influenced by the Prussian school system).  Others say that the timing of the public school system and the start of the Industrial Revolution (IR) don’t align enough to definitively say that our public school system was birthed out of the Industrial Revolution.  Nevertheless, Horace Mann was on a mission to solve some of the social justice issues of his time. In order to create a system that would counteract the inequalities of society, we need to find a way to fund it.

Federal, State, and Local Government Funding

The majority of the funding public schools receive is from local property taxes.  It’s in line with Horace Mann’s belief that “Education should be paid for, controlled, and maintained by the public.”  It doesn’t get more local that residential and commercial property taxes.  It’s interesting to note that although we can all collectively agree that education is immensely important, it doesn’t seem to be a major priority of the Federal Government, with just 3% of of the Federal budget going towards education.

In the graph above, from the National Center for Education Statistics in 2013, we see that the Fed contributed 7.6%, the State (through corporate & personal income taxes) 36.8%, and the Local government (through mainly property taxes) 55.6% of NYC’s school district revenue.  It’s incredible to think that NYC’s student population is a city within a city (one that is larger than the total population of Austin, TX).  Local property taxes generate $13,162 to be used per student in NYC, which is understandably higher than the national average spending of school districts per child at $10,314.  As I stated, property taxes play a major role in the funding of local school districts, and since property taxes are based on the assessed values of the area’s land & property, there can be funding inequalities in a borough of 12 community boards.  Let’s look at three different areas in the Bronx, a different property in each area, and a school in each area.

Case Study

There’s no surprise that District 11 is one of the best in the Bronx. Covering the neighborhoods of Allerton, Bronxdale, Indian Village, Morris Park, Pelham Gardens, Pelham Parkway, Van Nest – it’s one of the more affluent parts of the Bronx.  With a 2010 population of 113,232 residents, 42.3% of the properties in these areas are Single or Two-Family homes, and 44.7% of households are earning $50,000 or more annually.  Here’s a property tax bill for a single family home in the area:

Now here’s where things start to get tricky.  The City has it’s own special algorithm for calculating billable assessed values for areas and for setting the tax rates.  This home is currently for sale, but in order to avoid giving away the location by giving the exact amount it’s being listed for, we’ll just say that it is currently for more than the “estimated market rate.”  From this one unit dwelling, up to $4,367 in property taxes can be used to fund local schools.  With a lot area of 2,500 sqft – $1.75/sqft is given in property taxes.  Let’s quickly look at one of the schools: P.S. 108 The Phillip J. Abinanti School.

This Pre-K-5 school has a total of 595 students and total expenditures of $12,180,872, which translates to $21,038 spent per student. 43% of students met State standards for the English test, while 52% met Math test standards.  The City’s average was 39% for English and 40% for Math test standards set by the State. The City’s average spending per student was $21,667.

Let’s look at District 7, an area with a greater mix of residential, commercial, and institutional areas.   This district includes the neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, along with parts of University Heights and Fordham.  This area is a socio-economic mix.  With a 2010 population of 139,286 residents, 30.7% of the properties are multi-family residential, and 32.5% of households earn over $50,000 or more annually.  Since the majority of the properties here are multi-family units, we’re using the property tax bill of a 43-unit apartment building:

This property was last sold in 2008 for $10 million.  As we stated before, the market value and assessed values for calculating property taxes are very different, and covering the algorithm the City uses is way beyond the scope of this article.  Nevertheless, when we divide the property taxes by the 43 units, we get $1,616.  Each household essentially contributes up to $1,616 to be used in local schools, which is $2,751 less than the unit in district 11 contributes.  Now of course the lot sizes are different, with 10,129 sqft – $6.86/sqft is given in property taxes.  Let’s see if this has an effect on the local elementary school: P.S.86 Kingsbridge Heights.

This Pre-K-6 school has a total of 1707 students and total expenditures of $31,548,764, which translates to $18,558 spent per student. 32% of students met State standards for the English test, while 42% met Math test standards.  The City’s average was 39% for English and 40% for Math test standards set by the State.

Before we close Part 1, we’ll look at one last Community Board, and that’s District 1.  Covering the neighborhoods of  Mott Haven, Port Morris, and parts of Melrose, it’s one of the more under-resourced areas of New York City.  With a 2010 population of 91,497, 22% of the properties are multi-family residential, 18.4% are industrial, 19.3% of households earn over $50,000 a year, while 38.3% of households earn less than $15,000 a year.  So much of the housing stock in District 1 is owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).  Here’s a look at the tax bill for one lot:

This lot has 7 buildings and a total of 867 units.  As you can see, there were no property taxes paid.  Again, it’s beyond the scope of this post to assess how the City determines tax assessments, rates, or the exemptions given to government institutions that provide housing services to those who are under resourced.  The point is to show a correlation between property taxes and educational achievement.  We’ll look at a single family home in the same area as the NYCHA lot to hit the point home:

With just $1,396 in annual property taxes, this home contributes three times less than the home in Morris Park.  The lot area is 1,624 sqft – resulting in $0.84/sqft being given in property taxes.  Redlining affects property values, which then results in less money being contributed to the local public schools.  Let’s see this affect by looking at P.S.30 Wilton.

This Pre-K-5 school has a total of 589 students and total expenditures of $13,781,163, which translates to $22,085 spent per student. 15% of students met State standards for the English test, while 8% met Math test standards.  The City’s average was 39% for English and 40% for Math test standards set by the State. The City’s average spending per student was $21,667.

We’ve covered a lot of ground (and statistics) in Part 1.  In the next part, we’ll see what the numbers mean, how funding affects school budgets/programs, and how school staffing plays a role in children’s educational experience.