Report: Duke, large Durham employers must tap growing prosperity to address school funding crisis

A new report from the Institute for Southern Studies, publisher of Facing South, finds that despite Durham County’s growing economy, its public schools remain chronically underfunded, leaving students and educators with deteriorating buildings, staffing shortages and insufficient resources.

The report, Learning in Durham, outlines several ways Duke University and other large employers in the region can tap into their growing prosperity to strengthen Durham’s schools and support the workers, students and families who rely on them.

Some of Durham’s largest private-sector employers including Cisco, Fidelity Workplace Investing, IBM, and IQVIA reported billions in profits in 2025. Duke University has an endowment valued at more than $12.3 billion and more than $22 billion in assets. Yet Durham Public Schools face approximately $1 billion in needed building repairs, and teachers and staff continue to leave because of low pay and burnout.

“Our students require consistent instruction and enrichment. Our budgets do not set our students up for that consistency; instead, they create a revolving door of exhausted educators with one foot out the door, like my assistants who work second and third jobs to scrape together a living wage,” said Ananda Ghosh, a special programs teacher with Durham Public Schools. “Without consistent staffing and retention, I can’t give every child the time and support they need.”

The report also finds:

* Local funding for Durham schools is $5,998 per student, compared with a national average of $8,410 per student in 2023.

* Durham Public Schools face a backlog of approximately $1 billion in needed repairs, including ongoing mold and HVAC problems at elementary schools.

* Durham lost more than 260 teachers and administrators during the 2024–2025 school year, the latest year for which data is available, and its attrition rate was three percentage points higher than the state average.

* As an example of the challenges caused by chronic underfunding, in fall 2024, hundreds of students were left without transportation when more than 30% of school bus driver positions were unfilled amid a dispute over pay.

* Durham Public Schools requested a $28.5 million increase in county funding for the 2026–2027 school year but received approximately half that amount, $14.55 million, mostly to cover inflation and modest pay raises.

For more details and sources, read the full report here.

Wealthy institutions and companies can help close the funding gap

Durham leaders face real constraints as population growth, state education cuts and slowing sales tax revenue strain the region’s finances. In more than 90 percent of school districts nationwide, districts can levy taxes directly to raise needed resources. North Carolina is one of only a handful of states where school districts lack that authority, leaving Durham Public Schools dependent on county leaders for funding.

As Durham’s largest employer and landowner, Duke University benefits from millions of dollars in county property tax exemptions. The report argues that Duke and other wealthy institutions should make voluntary investments in Durham’s schools and broader community. It also recommends reforming the county’s troubled tax appeal process and pairing future property tax increases with robust funding for the Low-Income Homeowner Relief Program to protect poor and working-class residents in Durham.

The report builds on the findings of Working in Durham, a report released by the Institute last month. That report documented how, amid Durham's growing prosperity, workers — especially Black workers — were falling behind.

“Given Durham’s growing prosperity, there is little reason for its public schools to remain chronically underfunded,” the report’s authors write. “Durham’s wealthy companies and institutions must step up to address the county’s crisis of education funding and do their part to ensure thriving schools.”