Education, wealth and school quality [View all]

[NewJeffCT]

What is the correlation between wealth, educational results and school quality?

If a town/school district is wealthy, does that automatically translate into better schools and educational results?

I was on another forum and somebody I was disagreeing with on another issue also mentioned that individual and town/district wealth is the primary driver of educational quality and results. I had disagreed and said that the quality of the schools and students is more important than wealth, though I have no support for my idea (my google-fu is weak on this one.) other than anecdotal evidence. Am I right or wrong?

My thought being that if 90% of students in the good school district go on to a 4 year college and the "average" student there is still going to what is considered a "good" college, he or she benefits more from the overall educational environment than they would in a school where 50% of the students go on to a 4 year college, and the "average" student is going to what is considered an "average" college, or in a school where only 20% of the students go on to a 4 year college, and only a handful go to a "good" college.

Now, I'm not denying that wealth plays a big role, but I don't think it's the primary driver.

I could be way off base, so let me know.

Thanks