When students return to school, they will enter classrooms that have varying levels of support depending on their location.

Arlington County spends the most money, nearly $20,000 per student. Radford spends the least, less than $10,000, according to all-jurisdiction data compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.

“Although Arlington is said to pay a lot, the cost of living there is also high,” says Carol Bauer, president of the Virginia Education Association. “Although the cost per student there may seem high, when we extrapolate it to the NOVA region, it is also not as high as it should be.”

Although places like Falls Church and Charlottesville top the list in per-pupil spending, so do places like Surry County and Highland County. Levi Goren of the Commonwealth Institute says local governments often make investments when the state doesn’t.

“Many school districts in Virginia that can afford it spend much more than the state funding formula allows or assumes because, frankly, the state formula does not meet the needs of our students,” Goren says.

Members of the General Assembly are trying to make some changes to try to balance things out, but critics say some of the austerity measures put in place after the Great Recession 15 years ago are still in place and will continue to create problems.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radiowas made possible with the support of Virginia Education Association.