10) Centennial School District R-1, Colo.

>Median household income: $18,980

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 1%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 6.2%

>Expenditure per student: $16,323

>Pct. local funding: 51%
 

The Centennial School District in San Luis, Colo., has three schools for the area’s 220 students. Residents in the area are extremely poor, with 30% of households receiving food stamps or some form of government assistance. The expenditure per student, $16,323, is higher than the national average. Despite relatively high per-student spending, less than half of Centennial School students met proficiency levels of the Colorado Student Assessment Program state exam in 2010-2011 school year. Less than three in four adults in San Luis have a high school diploma, while only 11% hold a bachelor’s degree.
 

9) Pineville Independent School District, Ky.

>Median household income: $18,933

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 1.3%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 16.3%

>Expenditure per student: $9,829

>Pct. local funding: 12%
 

With a median household income of just $18,933, Pineville households earn more than $30,000 less than the national median. Similarly, the median home value is only $58,600 compared to the national median of $188,400. These low home values have affected the community’s abilities to provide for its own students through property taxes. The Pineville Independent School District spends $9,829 per student, and only 12% of that is provided by local residents. Less than 50% of high school students received proficient scores in writing or social studies on the Kentucky Core Content Tests.
 

8) San Perlita Independent School District, Tex.

>Median household income: $18,875

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 30% (7th)

>Expenditure per student: $19,413

>Pct. local funding: 26%
 

San Perlita, located in southern Texas, has one of the largest proportions of households earning less than $10,000 per year at 30%. Unlike other school districts on this list, the majority of San Perlita students are meeting the proficiency levels on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills and are actually exceeding the average test scores in the state. This achievement is acknowledged by the school’s appearance on the U.S. News 2012 Best High Schools list, which also mentions that 70% of the student population is “economically disadvantaged.” State test scores indicate that the school district appears to be making good use of its $19,413 per pupil expenditure, despite the community’s poverty. The majority of the school’s revenue — 63% in all — comes from state funds.
 

7) New Boston Local School District, Ohio

>Median household income: $18,604

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 16.9% (90th)

>Expenditure per student: $9,962

>Pct. local funding: 34%
 

More than half of the households in the New Boston school district of Ohio make less than $25,000, compared to just 16% of households nationwide. The median home value in New Boston is $51,100, while the U.S. median value is almost four times as much. Math proficiency levels on the Ohio Achievement Test for grades 3 to 6 are extremely low compared to the state averages. The $9,962 expenditure per pupil is characteristically low for the poorest school districts.
 

6) Hayti R-II School District, Mo.

>Median household income: $17,599

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 18.9% (59th in list)

>Expenditure per student: $10,484

>Pct. Local Funding: 28%
 

In the Hayti school district, 74.6% of households earn less than $50,000 a year and 45.3% of households receive food stamps or other government assistance. In addition, property values are also quite low, with a median home value of just $54,100. As low home values lead to low property taxes, local sources of income accounted for just 28% of the funds collected by the school district. On the Missouri Assessment Program exams, proficiency levels of Hayti students were well below the state averages on most of the sections, including biology, English and communication arts. Just 6.3% of district adults have a bachelor’s degree, compared to a national average of 28%.
 

5) Santa Maria Independent School District, Tex.

>Median household income: $17,576

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 20.4%

>Expenditure per student: $10,618

>Pct. Local Funding: 6%
 

In Santa Maria, the city containing the school district, per capita income is an incredibly low $5,794 and median home value is just $36,100. The school district spends $10,618 per student, which is slightly more than the national average. However, only 6% of funding comes from local income sources. Santa Maria’s proficiency levels for the 2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam varied greatly depending on the grade, but the levels were typically below Texas averages on math and reading. Only 4.5% of the district’s adults have obtained bachelor’s degrees.
 

4) West Bolivar School District, Miss.

>Median household income: $17,107

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0.6%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 17.3%

>Expenditure per student: $10,096

>Pct. local funding: 19%
 

Located in Rosedale, Miss., 59% of families with children under 18 in the West Bolivar School District live below the poverty line — one of the highest rates in the country. Partially due to the area’s extreme poverty, area home values are extremely low at just $48,100. As a result, the school district relies on Mississippi and the federal government to support its school budget. During the 2009-2010 school year, spending on schools exceeded money received from all taxes and other sources in the district. Eighth-grade students scored worse than state averages in all sections of the Mississippi Curriculum Test.
 

3) North Bolivar School District, Miss.

>Median household income: $16,968

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 2%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 15.8%

>Expenditure per student: $9,773

>Pct. local funding: 16%
 

The North Bolivar School District is composed of Brooks Elementary School, Shelby Middle School and Broad Street High School, where a total of 716 students are enrolled. The median income of households in Shelby, Miss., where the school district is located, is less than half of the state’s average and less than one-third of the median income of the U.S. The median home value in the district is $57,600. Also, 35.7% of households in the North Bolivar district earn less than $15,000, placing it among the poorest 1% of all school districts in the country in this category. Though the proficiency levels for the Mississippi Curriculum Test vary on each subject and grade, North Bolivar is typically on par or slightly below than the state average.
 

2) Monticello Independent School District, Ky.

>Median household income: $16,778

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 18%

>Expenditure per student: $9,964

>Pct. local funding: 8%
 

With 18% of households earning less than $10,000 annually, and not a single household earning above $200,000 per year, the Monticello Independent School District is one of the poorest school districts in the U.S. Nearly 40% of Monticello household incomes are below the poverty line, and 43.4% receive food stamps or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits.
In addition, median home value in Monticello is a meager $61,600, which is less than a third of the nation’s median home value. As a result, residents contribute just 8% to funding the district’s schools, or $892 per student. Only 60% of adults in the district have a high school diploma and 6.3% have a bachelor’s degree. On the Kentucky Core Content Tests, Monticello students were well below state proficiency levels on math and social studies.
 

1) Barbourville Independent School District, Ky.

>Median household income: $16,607

>Pct. households earning $200,000+: 0%

>Pct. households earning less than $10,000: 6.8%

>Expenditure per student: $8,178

>Pct. local funding: 16%
 

About one-third of households in the Barbourville Independent School District live well below the poverty line, earning less than $15,000 annually. The median home value in Barbourville is just $80,700, compared to the national average of $188,400. Poverty affects children in the district a great deal; an estimated 282 of the 680 children between 5 and 17 live in households with incomes below the poverty line. Surprisingly, U.S. News gave Barbourville’s high school a ranking on the 2012 Best High Schools list, explaining that Barbourville students received scores on their Kentucky Core Content Tests that were higher than state averages, despite the fact that 62% of the student body is “economically disadvantaged.”