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Dollars for Students In 2000 the Department of Education published the Digest for Education Statistics, a collection of information about education in the United States. They reported the average amount (dollars per student) spent by public schools in each state during the school year 1997-8. The following table divides the states according to whether they lie east or west of the Mississippi River. Write a report comparing the amounts eastern and western states spend to educate their children. Eastern State |$ per Student Western State | $ per Student Alabama 5,166 Alaska 9,074 Connecticut 9,221 Arizona 5,122 Delaware 7,963 Arkansas 4,99 D.C. 9,225 California 5,795 Florida 6,183 Colorado 6,099 Georgia 5,947 Hawaii 6,409 Illinois 6,858 Idaho 5,012 Indiana 6,786 Iowa 6,295 Kentucky 6,125 Kansas 6,406 Maine 7,238 Louisiana 5,645 Maryland 7,812 Minnesota 6,795 Massachusetts 8,299 Missouri 6,096 Michigan 7,717 Montana 6,448 Mississippi 4,575 Nebraska 6,584 New Hampshire 6,487 Nevada 5,758 New Jersey 10,233 New Mexico 4,984 New York 9,970 North Dakota 5,353 North Carolina 5,667 Oklahoma 5,398 Ohio 6,808 Oregon 7,348 Pennsylvania 7,777 South Dakota 5,281 Rhode Island 3,627 Texas 5,910 South Carolina 5,643 Utah 4,256 Tennessee 5,274 Washington 6,534 Vermont 7,500 Wyoming 6,718 Virginia 5,938 West Virginia 6,779 Wisconsin 7,680 A complete report will include a visual display (stem-and-leaf plot) and a well-written comparison of the distributions of expenditures (in context, of course). 4-13