School Funding Equity in Rhode Island 53 districts ranked by equity score — how equitably is school funding distributed? Equity is computed from NCES F-33 school finance data covering districts in all 50 states. See our methodology .
# District Enrollment $/Pupil Free Lunch Local Rev % Score 1 Newport 1,906 $27,575 65.9% 51.5% 86 2 Paul Cuffee Charter Sch 817 $24,797 66.8% 22.3% 85 3 Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts 205 $25,009 67.3% 29.6% 85 4 Central Falls 2,596 $24,020 86.3% 6.3% 75 5 Little Compton 201 $41,325 5.0% 84.3% 75 6 Rhode Island Nurses Institute Middle College 371 $21,083 72.2% 21.4% 74 7 Highlander 617 $19,942 69.4% 22.2% 71 8 Jamestown 418 $36,045 6.4% 85.8% 71 9 Westerly 2,296 $27,326 28.9% 73.3% 70 10 Providence 20,725 $25,933 75.8% 25.2% 69 11 Johnston 3,144 $22,817 32.6% 56.0% 67 12 Woonsocket 5,690 $21,838 66.0% 17.0% 64 13 Village Green Virtual 202 $22,802 70.8% 22.9% 64 14 Pawtucket 8,056 $21,161 51.0% 20.0% 63 15 Narragansett 1,128 $28,949 13.9% 80.4% 63 16 Davies Career and Tech 912 $22,087 36.3% 19.1% 63 17 Learning Community 579 $22,091 64.6% 18.7% 62 18 Segue Institute for Learning 307 $21,887 62.2% 17.3% 61 19 East Providence 5,272 $22,229 37.5% 48.0% 59 20 Warwick 8,005 $24,900 28.2% 64.4% 58 21 South Kingstown 2,509 $26,652 16.4% 81.3% 58 22 MET Career and Tech 776 $20,755 58.2% 30.5% 58 23 Foster 221 $22,665 23.5% 66.6% 58 24 Exeter-West Greenwich 1,550 $26,661 12.2% 73.8% 57 25 Foster-Glocester 1,359 $23,230 13.1% 65.3% 57 26 Blackstone Valley Prep A RI Mayoral Academy 2,197 $17,968 53.9% 27.8% 55 27 West Warwick 3,511 $20,994 42.6% 42.5% 54 28 Middletown 1,971 $23,126 25.3% 67.0% 54 29 Tiverton 1,634 $22,923 15.6% 67.4% 54 30 Blackstone Academy 351 $19,061 55.0% 19.9% 54 31 North Providence 3,516 $20,654 33.8% 45.0% 51 32 Scituate 1,194 $24,327 11.3% 75.9% 51 33 Glocester 577 $21,745 9.8% 61.5% 45 34 Bristol Warren 2,888 $22,304 24.1% 66.0% 43 35 Coventry 4,267 $20,450 25.5% 57.1% 41 36 Cranston 10,225 $19,886 31.9% 48.9% 39 37 Achievement First Rhode Island 2,527 $18,724 56.0% 30.5% 39 38 Chariho 3,102 $21,354 21.4% 66.0% 37 39 Portsmouth 2,183 $20,934 12.1% 78.4% 37 40 Burrillville 2,070 $19,596 27.0% 50.9% 37 41 North Smithfield 1,618 $19,968 15.8% 64.7% 36 42 Lincoln 3,278 $21,752 23.5% 62.4% 34 43 Smithfield 2,415 $19,193 13.0% 72.1% 32 44 Beacon Charter School 360 $16,881 39.5% 28.1% 32 45 The Hope Academy 317 $17,325 49.2% 25.9% 32 46 The Compass School 215 $19,276 8.8% 70.2% 32 47 North Kingstown 3,842 $20,630 26.8% 73.9% 31 48 International Charter 381 $18,395 44.5% 28.5% 31 49 RISE Prep Mayoral Academy 425 $13,620 46.6% 26.9% 28 50 Cumberland 4,784 $17,950 16.5% 58.8% 19 51 East Greenwich 2,543 $19,309 5.0% 77.9% 19 52 Kingston Hill Academy 260 $17,827 7.7% 69.2% 17 53 Barrington 3,405 $18,977 5.5% 75.0% 11
How the Equity Score Works The equity score (0-100) evaluates four dimensions of school funding fairness:
Per-Pupil Spending (0-25)
Higher spending relative to peers
Need-Adjusted Spending (0-25)
Spending weighted by poverty level — rewards districts that spend more where need is greatest
Funding Diversity (0-25)
Less reliance on local property taxes, more state/federal support
Resource Access (0-25)
Lower student-teacher ratios = more individualized attention
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.