Total spending on public K-12 education reached $437.0 billion in the 2002-03 school year–more than $9,100 per pupil nationwide. Less than a third of this money ended up in the paychecks of teachers, whose average salary was $45,930 in 2002-03, up 3.2 percent from the average salary of $44,999 reported last year for 2001-02. With spending of $16,740 per pupil, the District of Columbia had the nation’s most expensive public school system.
These and other data on public schools are derived from the latest update to the “Ranking and Estimates” report published annually by the Research Department of the National Education Association (NEA). A much-quoted source of national and state-level data on teacher salaries, the report also provides statistics on state-by-state student enrollments, student-teacher ratios, and total expenditures on public K-12 education.
According to the NEA supplemental report for the school year 2002-03, published last fall, public school enrollments were up less than 1 percent to 47,789,062, while the number of teachers rose about 2 percent to 3,039,831. The student-teacher ratio fell about 2 percent from 16.0 reported in the previous supplement to 15.7 in 2002-03. Total expenditures on education, including capital and interest, rose by about 5 percent from the $413.0 billion reported in the 2002 supplement.
While NEA Research reports teacher salaries and other statistics in rank order by state, in the table on this page School Reform News puts these data in context by reporting them as percentages of the national average. For example, California teachers are paid 123 percent of the national average, while South Dakota teachers are paid 71 percent of the national average.
To place spending on teacher salaries in the context of total expenditures, each state’s teacher salaries were multiplied by the number of teachers to produce an estimate of state-level expenditures on teachers. When reported as a percentage of total expenditures, those figures show most states spend less than a third of education funds on teachers, with only Virginia (48 percent), North Dakota (47 percent), and Rhode Island (42 percent) being notable exceptions. By contrast, in the District of Columbia, only one out of five education dollars (21 percent) is spent on teacher salaries.
George A. Clowes is managing editor of School Reform News. His email address is [email protected].
Public Schools 2002-03: Teacher Salaries, Student-Teacher Ratios, and Per-Pupil Spending |
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As a % of U.S. Total Value | Teacher Salary Expenditures (# Teachers x Average Teacher Salary) |
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Average Teacher Salary | Student Teacher Radio | Total Expenditure Per Pupil | $/Pupil Rank | State | Average Teacher Salary | Student Teacher Ratio | Total Expenditure Per Pupil | Total Expenditures | Teacher Salary Expenditures | As A % Of Total Expenditures |
$45,930 | 15.7 | $9,142 | United States | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | $436,981,627 | $139,619,438 | 32.0% | |
$38,246 | 15.5 | $6,811 | 46 | Alabama | 83.3% | 98.7% | 74.5% | $4,915,090 | $1,780,313 | 36.2% |
$49,685 | 16.7 | $10,338 | 13 | Alaska | 108.2% | 106.4% | 113.1% | $1,388,990 | $400,064 | 28.8% |
$40,894 | 20.9 | $6,418 | 48 | Arizona | 89.0% | 133.1% | 70.2% | $6,036,093 | $1,844,401 | 30.6% |
$37,753 | 14.0 | $7,157 | 42 | Arkansas | 82.2% | 89.2% | 78.3% | $3,186,356 | $1,199,451 | 37.6% |
$56,283 | 20.7 | $8,448 | 29 | California | 122.5% | 131.8% | 92.4% | $52,754,038 | $16,941,915 | 32.1% |
$42,679 | 16.6 | $8,973 | 23 | Colorado | 92.9% | 105.7% | 98.1% | $6,746,222 | $1,936,517 | 28.7% |
$55,367 | 13.2 | $12,564 | 3 | Connecticut | 120.5% | 84.1% | 137.4% | $7,185,300 | $2,393,183 | 33.3% |
$50,772 | 15.2 | $11,651 | 4 | Delaware | 110.5% | 96.8% | 127.4% | $1,354,662 | $388,964 | 28.7% |
$40,281 | 18.0 | $8,084 | 36 | Florida | 87.7% | 114.6% | 88.4% | $20,480,627 | $5,680,749 | 27.7% |
$45,533 | 15.6 | $9,436 | 19 | Georgia | 99.1% | 99.4% | 103.2% | $14,116,034 | $4,365,476 | 30.9% |
$44,464 | 16.5 | $8,144 | 33 | Hawaii | 96.8% | 105.1% | 89.1% | $1,497,088 | $495,951 | 33.1% |
$40,148 | 17.9 | $6,841 | 45 | Idaho | 87.4% | 114.0% | 74.8% | $1,700,000 | $555,970 | 32.7% |
$51,289 | 15.5 | $11,269 | 8 | Illinois | 111.7% | 98.7% | 123.3% | $23,548,725 | $6,899,345 | 29.3% |
$45,097 | 16.4 | $10,138 | 17 | Indiana | 98.2% | 104.5% | 110.9% | $10,089,554 | $2,730,263 | 27.1% |
$39,059 | 14.0 | $8,128 | 34 | Iowa | 85.0% | 89.2% | 88.9% | $3,919,245 | $1,350,074 | 34.4% |
$38,123 | 14.4 | $8,488 | 28 | Kansas | 83.0% | 91.7% | 92.8% | $3,986,147 | $1,242,085 | 31.2% |
$38,981 | 16.2 | $7,896 | 37 | Kentucky | 84.9% | 103.2% | 86.4% | $4,966,732 | $1,510,709 | 30.4% |
$37,300 | 14.5 | $7,767 | 39 | Louisiana | 81.2% | 92.4% | 85.0% | $5,665,853 | $1,877,682 | 33.1% |
$38,518 | 12.8 | $10,199 | 15 | Maine | 83.9% | 81.5% | 111.6% | $2,084,023 | $617,020 | 29.6% |
$49,677 | 15.6 | $9,180 | 21 | Maryland | 108.2% | 99.4% | 100.4% | $7,956,674 | $2,759,210 | 34.7% |
$52,043 | 13.8 | $11,393 | 6 | Massachusetts | 113.3% | 87.9% | 124.6% | $11,256,083 | $3,736,687 | 33.2% |
$53,798 | 17.1 | $10,160 | 16 | Michigan | 117.1% | 108.9% | 111.1% | $17,728,706 | $5,489,171 | 31.0% |
$44,745 | 16.1 | $10,941 | 9 | Minnesota | 97.4% | 102.5% | 119.7% | $9,265,938 | $2,354,034 | 25.4% |
$34,555 | 16.1 | $6,586 | 47 | Mississippi | 75.2% | 102.5% | 72.0% | $3,237,942 | $1,056,312 | 32.6% |
$39,292 | 13.5 | $8,269 | 32 | Missouri | 85.5% | 86.0% | 90.4% | $7,392,658 | $2,601,680 | 35.2% |
$35,754 | 14.5 | $7,818 | 38 | Montana | 77.8% | 92.4% | 85.5% | $1,172,718 | $370,483 | 31.6% |
$37,896 | 13.7 | $8,092 | 35 | Nebraska | 82.5% | 87.3% | 88.5% | $2,297,595 | $784,788 | 34.2% |
$41,795 | 19.0 | $8,496 | 27 | Nevada | 91.0% | 121.0% | 92.9% | $3,139,398 | $813,289 | 25.9% |
$41,909 | 13.9 | $9,166 | 22 | New Hampshire | 91.2% | 88.5% | 100.3% | $1,903,090 | $627,587 | 33.0% |
$54,158 | 13.0 | $11,604 | 5 | New Jersey | 117.9% | 82.8% | 126.9% | $15,865,410 | $5,709,445 | 36.0% |
$36,965 | 15.2 | $7,716 | 41 | New Mexico | 80.5% | 96.8% | 84.4% | $2,469,418 | $776,967 | 31.5% |
$52,600 | 12.6 | $12,957 | 2 | New York | 114.5% | 80.3% | 141.7% | $36,863,831 | $11,887,600 | 32.2% |
$43,076 | 15.6 | $7,744 | 40 | North Carolina | 93.8% | 99.4% | 84.7% | $10,421,985 | $3,710,093 | 35.6% |
$33,210 | 13.3 | $5,313 | 51 | North Dakota | 72.3% | 84.7% | 58.1% | $547,340 | $257,211 | 47.0% |
$45,498 | 14.8 | $8,672 | 26 | Ohio | 99.1% | 94.3% | 94.9% | $15,725,403 | $5,557,353 | 35.3% |
$34,877 | 15.4 | $7,022 | 44 | Oklahoma | 75.9% | 98.1% | 76.8% | $4,382,849 | $1,416,355 | 32.3% |
$47,600 | 20.4 | $8,417 | 30 | Oregon | 103.6% | 129.9% | 92.1% | $4,655,503 | $1,291,198 | 27.7% |
$51,424 | 15.2 | $8,760 | 25 | Pennsylvania | 112.0% | 96.8% | 95.8% | $15,915,365 | $6,132,621 | 38.5% |
$51,076 | 11.8 | $10,348 | 12 | Rhode Island | 111.2% | 75.2% | 113.2% | $1,634,883 | $682,988 | 41.8% |
$40,362 | 15.2 | $9,260 | 20 | South Carolina | 87.9% | 96.8% | 101.3% | $6,224,918 | $1,781,458 | 28.6% |
$32,416 | 13.9 | $8,285 | 31 | South Dakota | 70.6% | 88.5% | 90.6% | $1,035,474 | $292,327 | 28.2% |
$39,677 | 15.6 | $6,386 | 49 | Tennessee | 86.4% | 99.4% | 69.8% | $5,813,353 | $2,313,764 | 39.8% |
$40,001 | 14.6 | $8,895 | 24 | Texas | 87.1% | 93.0% | 97.3% | $37,565,997 | $11,587,490 | 30.8% |
$38,385 | 22.3 | $6,112 | 50 | Utah | 83.6% | 142.0% | 66.9% | $2,940,915 | $827,657 | 28.1% |
$41,491 | 11.4 | $11,346 | 7 | Vermont | 90.3% | 72.6% | 124.1% | $1,130,723 | $363,212 | 32.1% |
$43,152 | 12.6 | $7,082 | 43 | Virginia | 94.0% | 80.3% | 77.5% | $8,332,713 | $4,016,113 | 48.2% |
$44,963 | 19.2 | $10,258 | 14 | Washington | 97.9% | 122.3% | 112.2% | $10,421,726 | $2,384,613 | 22.9% |
$38,481 | 14.1 | $9,530 | 18 | West Virginia | 83.8% | 89.8% | 104.2% | $2,683,594 | $767,465 | 28.6% |
$42,775 | 14.7 | $10,605 | 10 | Wisconsin | 93.1% | 93.6% | 116.0% | $9,345,333 | $2,565,987 | 27.5% |
$38,838 | 13.3 | $10,486 | 11 | Wyoming | 84.6% | 84.7% | 114.7% | $903,000 | $252,059 | 27.9% |
$50,763 | 14.2 | $16,740 | 1 | District of Col | 110.5% | 90.4% | 183.1% | $1,130,312 | $242,089 | 21.4% |
FOOTNOTES: Computed from NEA Research, Estimates databank. Source for raw data: national Education Association, “Rankings & Estimates” Fall 2003 Update published November 2003. http://www.nea.org/edstats/03rankingsupdate.html |
For more information …
The Fall 2003 Update of the National Education Association’s “Rankings and Estimates” report is available online at http://www.nea.org/edstats/03rankingsupdate.html. The previous full report is available at http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/03rankings.pdf.