We already discussed the fact that Detroit schools receive more money per pupil than other districts, but have lower test scores.
Does this funding trend hold true for other majority black districts?
Yes. Flint City School District is over 80% black and has a budget of $13.1k per pupil per year. Grand Rapids Public Schools is only about 20% white, with the rest split between blacks and Latinos. They have a budget of $11.9k per pupil. The River Rouge School District is 70% black and 15% Latino. They have a budget of $13.1k per pupil.
Cadilac Area Public Schools is 93% white. Their budget is $9.3k per student. Traverse City Area Public Schools is 91% white. They have a budget of $9.7k per pupil.
Other races?
The St. Ignace School District is 55% American Indian and 40% white. Their budget is $9.6k per student. The Troy School District is the most Asian. The student body is 26% Asian and 60% white. Their budget is $11.2k per student.
Majority black public school districts in Michigan universally receive more money per pupil than majority white public school districts.
But what about proficiency test scores?
The Michigan Department of Education published statewide 2015 M-STEP proficiency test scores broken down by racial group. Click here for the full report in pdf format. Below is graphs of state proficiency test scores in math and English.
Asians absolutely dominate in every single category. Blacks trail in every single category. Many Asian immigrants come to Michigan to go to college, work in the tech field, or to take advantage of Federal taxpayer subsidized small business loans to immigrants. These are people who tend to be intelligent and ambitious, so you would expect their children to perform well.
Pacific Islanders are performing about on par with whites. However, Michigan is less than a tenth of a percent Pacific Islander, so you can’t really draw conclusions from a sample size this small.
Latinos immigrants, on average, tend to be from poor families that came to the USA to do menial labor. Their children still outperform black Americans.
“For each subject, the relative performance of the racial/ethnic groups remained relatively stable, with Asian students scoring highest and African-American students scoring lowest.” – Michigan Department of Education
