Total expenditures on U.S. K-12 public education and other related programs in the 2000-2001 school year were $411.5 billion, up $29.6 billion, or 7.8 percent, from 1999-2000. Total revenues for the same period were 97.4 percent of total expenditures, or $10.6 billion lower at $400.9 billion.
Current expenditures, the most common way of reporting public school expenditures, were 84.6 percent of total expenditures, or $63.3 billion lower at $348.2 billion. Total expenditures per student in 2000-2001 were up $567 from 1999-2000 to $8,718, or 7.0 percent higher.
If per-pupil expenditures continue to increase at 6 percent a year, average U.S. spending for K-12 education for the school year starting this fall would be about $11,000 per student, with total expenditures exceeding a half a trillion dollars.
Where the Money Comes From
Almost half (49.7 percent) of the $400.9 billion in revenues came from state sources. Another 43.1 percent came from local and intermediate sources, with the federal government providing just 7.3 percent, or $29.1 billion.
Among states with more than one school district, the state share of revenues varied from just 28.6 percent in Nevada to 71.1 percent in New Mexico and 70.7 percent in Vermont. Federal revenues ranged from 3.9 percent in New Jersey to 15.8 percent in Alaska.
Where the Money Goes
Of the $411.5 billion in total expenditures, the vast majority (84.6 percent) went to current expenditures for school operations, with the current expenditure dollar going roughly two-thirds to instruction and one-third to support services. Just 2.5 percent of total expenditures went to debt service, with another 9.5 percent going for facility construction/renovation and another 1.9 percent for replacement equipment.
As a share of total expenditures, the following variations are seen at the state level: current expenditures, from 67.8 percent in Arizona to 95.3 percent in Rhode Island; facility construction/renovation, from 0.5 percent in Massachusetts to 22.4 percent in Arizona; debt service, from 0.8 percent in California to 6.9 percent in Indiana.
Source and Use of Funds for U.S. Public Schools: School Year 2000-01 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM | PROCESSING UNIT | WHERE THE MONEY GOES Share of Total Expenditures |
||||||||||
Share of Total Revenues | Share of Total Expenditures | |||||||||||
Total Revenues ($000) |
Local+Intermediate | State | Federal | State/Federal City | Student Membership (Fall 2000) |
Total Expenditures ($000) |
Per-Pupil Expenditure | Current Expenditures | Facility Construction/ Renovation |
Replacement Equipment |
Other Programs |
Interest on Debt |
400,919,024 | 43.1% | 49.7% | 7.3% | United_States | 47,203,539 | 411,518,072 | $8,718 | 84.6% | 9.5% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 2.5% |
4,812,302 | 30.7% | 59.9% | 9.4% | Alabama | 739,992 | 5,075,425 | $6,859 | 85.8% | 9.1% | 1.4% | 2.1% | 1.7% |
1,370,271 | 27.1% | 57.1% | 15.8% | Alaska | 133,356 | 1,405,783 | $10,542 | 87.4% | 9.4% | 1.3% | 0.5% | 1.4% |
5,797,151 | 45.8% | 43.6% | 10.6% | Arizona | 877,696 | 6,837,290 | $7,790 | 67.8% | 22.4% | 4.1% | 0.5% | 5.3% |
2,812,169 | 31.1% | 59.6% | 9.3% | Arkansas | 449,959 | 2,809,612 | $6,244 | 89.2% | 5.9% | 2.6% | 0.3% | 2.0% |
51,007,510 | 30.3% | 61.5% | 8.2% | California | 6,140,814 | 50,549,119 | $8,232 | 84.9% | 10.6% | 2.0% | 1.8% | 0.8% |
5,349,899 | 52.9% | 41.5% | 5.6% | Colorado | 724,508 | 5,721,045 | $7,896 | 83.2% | 9.7% | 2.1% | 0.8% | 4.2% |
6,460,491 | 56.2% | 39.5% | 4.3% | Connecticut | 562,179 | 6,633,858 | $11,800 | 85.8% | 9.1% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 2.0% |
1,112,519 | 26.2% | 65.9% | 7.9% | Delaware | 114,676 | 1,191,951 | $10,394 | 86.2% | 9.5% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
17,866,868 | 42.4% | 48.7% | 9.0% | Florida | 2,434,821 | 18,752,867 | $7,702 | 80.1% | 14.0% | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2.1% |
12,191,113 | 44.7% | 48.9% | 6.4% | Georgia | 1,444,937 | 11,865,052 | $8,211 | 84.4% | 11.7% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 1.5% |
1,682,330 | 1.8% | 89.8% | 8.4% | Hawaii | 184,360 | 1,410,119 | $7,649 | 86.2% | 5.4% | 3.0% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
1,593,966 | 30.6% | 61.3% | 8.1% | Idaho | 245,117 | 1,564,207 | $6,381 | 89.7% | 5.8% | 2.3% | 0.3% | 1.9% |
18,217,079 | 58.6% | 33.6% | 7.8% | Illinois | 2,048,792 | 18,932,238 | $9,241 | 82.7% | 11.0% | 3.0% | 0.8% | 2.6% |
9,033,180 | 41.3% | 53.5% | 5.1% | Indiana | 989,267 | 9,084,055 | $9,183 | 83.1% | 7.6% | 1.7% | 0.6% | 6.9% |
3,954,178 | 44.6% | 49.2% | 6.3% | Iowa | 495,080 | 3,918,833 | $7,916 | 87.5% | 7.4% | 2.9% | 0.6% | 1.5% |
3,597,726 | 32.5% | 61.1% | 6.4% | Kansas | 470,610 | 3,591,632 | $7,632 | 90.7% | 2.4% | 3.7% | 0.1% | 3.1% |
4,509,893 | 30.1% | 59.9% | 9.9% | Kentucky | 665,850 | 4,339,910 | $6,518 | 93.3% | 0.9% | 2.9% | 1.1% | 1.8% |
5,060,133 | 39.2% | 49.4% | 11.5% | Louisiana | 743,089 | 5,017,490 | $6,752 | 89.4% | 6.2% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 2.0% |
1,934,178 | 47.5% | 44.6% | 7.9% | Maine | 207,037 | 1,902,758 | $9,190 | 89.6% | 5.8% | 1.6% | 1.0% | 2.0% |
7,846,891 | 56.6% | 37.3% | 6.1% | Maryland | 852,920 | 7,966,173 | $9,340 | 88.4% | 9.2% | 1.2% | 0.2% | 1.0% |
10,148,498 | 51.4% | 43.6% | 5.0% | Massachusetts | 975,150 | 9,833,455 | $10,084 | 94.3% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 2.6% |
16,358,532 | 28.4% | 64.8% | 6.8% | Michigan | 1,720,626 | 17,266,301 | $10,035 | 82.5% | 10.1% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 3.3% |
7,873,549 | 34.8% | 60.5% | 4.7% | Minnesota | 854,340 | 8,104,831 | $9,487 | 80.6% | 9.7% | 2.4% | 3.7% | 3.7% |
2,903,534 | 30.8% | 55.4% | 13.8% | Mississippi | 497,871 | 2,885,800 | $5,796 | 89.3% | 4.8% | 3.0% | 0.7% | 2.2% |
7,102,501 | 55.6% | 37.5% | 6.9% | Missouri | 912,744 | 7,148,100 | $7,831 | 85.0% | 6.8% | 3.2% | 2.0% | 2.9% |
1,140,168 | 40.9% | 47.6% | 11.5% | Montana | 154,875 | 1,123,812 | $7,256 | 92.7% | 3.9% | 1.7% | 0.7% | 1.0% |
2,307,804 | 57.8% | 34.9% | 7.3% | Nebraska | 286,199 | 2,378,237 | $8,310 | 86.9% | 7.6% | 3.5% | 0.1% | 1.8% |
2,393,494 | 66.3% | 28.6% | 5.1% | Nevada | 340,706 | 2,702,909 | $7,933 | 73.2% | 18.6% | 2.7% | 0.5% | 5.0% |
1,714,147 | 43.9% | 51.6% | 4.5% | New_Hampshire | 208,461 | 1,723,025 | $8,265 | 88.1% | 8.3% | 1.4% | 0.2% | 1.9% |
15,967,075 | 54.3% | 41.8% | 3.9% | New_Jersey | 1,313,405 | 16,571,448 | $12,617 | 89.2% | 7.4% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.5% |
2,426,705 | 15.0% | 71.1% | 13.9% | New_Mexico | 320,306 | 2,375,194 | $7,415 | 85.1% | 11.8% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.4% |
34,266,171 | 48.1% | 46.2% | 5.7% | New_York | 2,882,188 | 35,703,439 | $12,388 | 86.5% | 6.4% | 1.0% | 3.6% | 2.4% |
9,262,181 | 26.4% | 66.3% | 7.2% | North_Carolina | 1,293,638 | 9,920,176 | $7,668 | 82.8% | 12.8% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 2.4% |
767,798 | 47.7% | 39.0% | 13.4% | North_Dakota | 109,201 | 739,258 | $6,770 | 90.5% | 4.4% | 3.3% | 0.8% | 1.0% |
16,649,361 | 50.8% | 43.2% | 6.1% | Ohio | 1,835,049 | 16,327,367 | $8,898 | 85.1% | 7.6% | 2.9% | 2.6% | 1.9% |
4,034,825 | 30.7% | 59.1% | 10.2% | Oklahoma | 623,110 | 4,082,423 | $6,552 | 91.9% | 5.2% | 1.5% | 0.5% | 0.9% |
4,564,408 | 36.4% | 56.2% | 7.4% | Oregon | 546,231 | 4,677,930 | $8,564 | 87.9% | 7.5% | 1.5% | 0.4% | 2.7% |
17,053,891 | 55.7% | 37.8% | 6.5% | Pennsylvania | 1,814,311 | 17,835,344 | $9,830 | 83.5% | 9.2% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 3.9% |
1,545,675 | 51.9% | 42.2% | 5.9% | Rhode_Island | 157,347 | 1,538,412 | $9,777 | 95.3% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.8% |
5,459,399 | 37.9% | 53.9% | 8.2% | South_Carolina | 677,411 | 5,539,077 | $8,177 | 81.1% | 13.6% | 1.9% | 1.1% | 2.3% |
885,229 | 52.5% | 35.3% | 12.1% | South_Dakota | 128,603 | 961,630 | $7,478 | 82.8% | 10.5% | 4.4% | 0.3% | 1.9% |
5,711,950 | 46.5% | 44.3% | 9.2% | Tennessee | 909,161 | 6,280,529 | $6,908 | 82.3% | 12.3% | 2.1% | 0.5% | 2.8% |
30,469,570 | 49.1% | 42.2% | 8.7% | Texas | 4,059,619 | 32,885,506 | $8,101 | 80.7% | 13.1% | 1.8% | 0.7% | 3.7% |
2,745,656 | 34.0% | 58.6% | 7.5% | Utah | 481,485 | 2,750,282 | $5,712 | 81.8% | 11.6% | 1.8% | 2.3% | 2.5% |
1,035,679 | 23.4% | 70.7% | 5.8% | Vermont | 102,049 | 1,014,673 | $9,943 | 92.1% | 4.2% | 1.9% | 0.3% | 1.5% |
9,313,330 | 52.1% | 42.3% | 5.6% | Virginia | 1,144,915 | 9,690,316 | $8,464 | 86.0% | 9.1% | 2.4% | 0.5% | 2.0% |
8,058,875 | 29.3% | 62.9% | 7.8% | Washington | 1,004,770 | 8,152,660 | $8,114 | 83.2% | 11.1% | 1.7% | 0.5% | 3.6% |
2,375,788 | 28.7% | 61.1% | 10.2% | West_Virginia | 286,367 | 2,348,364 | $8,201 | 91.9% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 1.4% | 0.5% |
8,327,255 | 41.8% | 53.1% | 5.0% | Wisconsin | 879,476 | 8,553,822 | $9,726 | 84.7% | 8.5% | 2.1% | 1.4% | 3.2% |
803,414 | 41.2% | 50.2% | 8.6% | Wyoming | 89,940 | 783,319 | $8,709 | 90.0% | 5.1% | 3.6% | 0.2% | 1.2% |
1,042,711 | 88.9% | 0.0% | 11.1% | District_of_Columbia | 68,925 | 1,051,014 | $15,249 | 79.0% | 15.5% | 2.0% | 1.1% | 2.4% |
George A. Clowes is managing editor of School Reform News. His email address is [email protected].
For more information …
The raw data used in the accompanying table are taken from the publication “Statistics in Brief May 2003, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2000-2001,” from the Web site of the National Center for Education Statistics at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2003/2003362.pdf.