There is an entirely different vision of education on either side. And while there are disparities among districts sufficient to cause the state's highest court to strike down part of its school-finance system as unconstitutional, the financial pain is more widespread than in some other states. We have 215 districts, and a lot are small and rural. We have three or four real cities, which have some difficult inner city education issues. We have some extraordinarily good suburban districts.
State law caps districts' operational spending and sets a maximum tax rate.
Districts that cannot reach the spending limit at that tax rate qualify for state aid. Actual tax and spending levels are set locally, but this system substantially evens out operational spending. However, the cost of building and maintaining schools is financed separately and wholly through local property taxes. As a result, some districts have indoor swimming pools while others cannot pay for basic repairs. There also have been ways to transfer some money raised for facilities to operating budgets, thus increasing disparities.