Money Makes the Education Go Round: A Look at Educational Differences Between Northern and Southwest Virginia
I grew up in Northern Virginia, but my family’s roots lie in Southwest Virginia. My mother is from the small town of Atkins, Virginia, where my grandparents, great-grandparents, and pretty much everyone on that side of the family has lived their whole lives. It was then surprising to me to find that only two of my relatives from Atkins had gone to college. In Northern Virginia, it felt like almost everyone I knew was either going to college or had gone to college. This stark difference from my home in Northern Virginia to my mother’s hometown inspired me to look deeper into the educational differences between Northern and Southwest Virginia, and how those differences impact other aspects of life. Specifically, I will be looking at Fairfax County (the county in which I attended school), and Smyth County (the county in which my mother attended school).
First, I examined the budgetary differences between the two counties, to get a sense of how much each county can invest in education. According to the budgets for FY 2017 and 2018, Fairfax has an educational budget of about $2.8 billion, while Smyth has a budget of about $47 million, which is about 1.7% of what Fairfax has to spend. If this difference was merely based on population, then Smyth County should have about 2.8% of what Fairfax has, which would be $77 million rather than $47 million. So where does this discrepancy come from? Well part of the reason may be from the fact that Fairfax county draws 71.8% of its educational revenue from local sources, while Smyth county only draws 16.43% from local sources. Majority of Smyth county’s educational revenue comes from the state. This shows the impact a local wealth can have on public education. If a locality is very wealthy, it can use that wealth to invest in public schools through local taxes and fees, while poorer areas rely on the state to finance public education.
I next wanted to look at the outcomes of the two counties educational systems such as high school graduation rates, post-secondary education rates, median incomes, and unemployment rates. For high school graduation, the two are relatively close, with Fairfax having a high school graduation rate of 91.7%, and Smyth having 82.6%. The gap is increased dramatically however for people obtaining a bachelor’s degree, with 60.3% of Fairfax county having at least a bachelor’s degree or higher, and only 17.6% of Smyth county. This low rate of college education can be devasting to income potential for Southwest Virginia. According to the Appalachian Regional Commission, 69% of all new jobs require some form of college education, which will inevitably lead to high unemployment in the region. The unemployment can already be seen in the region, Smyth County had an unemployment rate of 6.5% in 2015 compared to the national average of 5.3%. Additionally, if people can’t find work, then they will be unable to provide for themselves and their families, which is likely why Smyth County has a poverty rate of 18.7% compered to the U.S.’s 15.5%. All of this can be compared to Fairfax county, which has a high rate of college education, but faces not nearly the same rate of poverty or unemployment. Aside from just keeping above the poverty line, having a college education can also help lead to a higher income, making life more comfortable for people. Smyth county has a median income of about $39,000, while Fairfax has one of $114,329.
All of these statistics show the impact a higher education can have on a community’s economic status and overall well-being, and it starts in public schools. Places like Smyth county exist throughout Appalachia, and it highlights the what a difference educational resources can make on a place. Fairfax county has an absurdly large budget for education, but that correlates to more students attending college, which correlates to higher employment and income. And if Smyth county, and other similar counties in Appalachia where able to find more school funding, it would set the next generation up for success, and help those in Appalchia catch up to richer areas of the country.
Below are links to some flyers meant to convince people to come to a school based on the opportunities they provide. One school (Lake Braddock) is based in Fairfax County, and the other (Marion) is based in Smyth County. These flyers highlight some of the differences in opportunities the schools in the different counties can provide. Specifically showing that Fairfax County schools can offer much more to their students academically due to their greater resources. The information to create these flyers was simply found using the school websites.
Work Cited:
“Development and Progress of the Appalachian Higher Education Network.” Appalachian Regional Commission, https://www.arc.gov/publications/DevelopmentandProgressofAHENetwork.asp
“Socioeconomic Data: Smyth County, Virginia.” Appalachian Regional Commission,
https://www.arc.gov/reports/socio_report.asp
“Budget 2016–2017” Smyth County Public Schools,
http://www.scsb.org/finance/2016-2017_budget.pdf
“FY 2019 Proposed Budget” Fairfax County Public Schools,
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/pdf/FY-2019-Proposed-Budget.pdf
“Educational Attainment 2012–2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates” U.S. Census Bureau,
https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=CF
Marion Senior High, http://www.scsb.org/mshs/
Lake Braddock Secondary School, https://lakebraddockss.fcps.edu/
