The 2019 Local School Finance Study examines data from the 2016-17 school year. The purpose of this annual study is to isolate local spending from state and federal spending to examine the capacity and actual effort of counties to support public schools. The Local School Finance Study focuses not only on the amount that counties spend on schools, but also on each county's investment in relation to their taxable resources. The Public School Forum of North Carolina's research has identified two key trends in local school finance that have led to deepened educational inequality across districts over time: (1) There is a widening gap between wealthier counties and those with lower levels of wealth; and (2) Wealthier counties are able to allocate more local dollars to public schools while simultaneously making less taxing effort. These funding disparities have tangible impacts in North Carolina classrooms. In 2016-17, counties spent approximately $3.1 billion to fund instructional expenses, accounting for 24 percent of the combined federal, state, and local total. This year, the Local School Finance Study includes new additions in the expanded "Gaps and Trends" section of the report. The authors conducted interviews with local school finance officers and administrators to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of different districts and the impact of local finance inequities in different contexts. Three segments highlight the voices of experts from several rural and urban districts across the state. [For the 2018 Local School Finance Study, see ED585762.]