Skip Navigation
Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 156. Summary of expenditures for public elementary and secondary education, by purpose: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2002-03
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Purpose of expenditures       |   1919-20|   1929-30|   1939-40|   1949-50|    1959-60|    1969-70|    1979-80|        1989-90|      1999-2000|     2001-02\1\|        2002-03
______________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________
1                             |         2|         3|         4|         5|          6|          7|          8|              9|             10|             11|             12
______________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________
                              |                                                               Amounts in thousands of dollars
                              |__________ __________ __________ __________ ___________ ___________ ___________ _______________ _______________ _______________ _______________
     Total expenditures ......|$1,036,151|$2,316,790|$2,344,049|$5,837,643|$15,613,255|$40,683,429|$95,961,561|   $212,769,564|   $381,838,155|   $435,364,404|   $454,905,783
                              |__________|__________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________
Current expenditures for      |          |          |          |          |           |           |           |               |               |               |
   public elementary and      |          |          |          |          |           |           |           |               |               |               |
   secondary education .......|   861,120| 1,843,552| 1,941,799| 4,687,274| 12,329,389| 34,217,773| 86,984,142|    188,229,359|    323,888,508|    368,378,006|    387,592,494
  Administration .............|    36,752|    78,680|    91,571|   220,050|    528,408|  1,606,646|  4,263,757|\2\  16,346,991|\2\  25,079,298|\2\  28,309,047|\2\  29,751,958
  Instruction ................|   632,556| 1,317,727| 1,403,285| 3,112,340|  8,350,738| 23,270,158| 53,257,937|\2\ 113,550,405|\2\ 199,968,138|\2\ 226,668,386|\2\ 237,731,734
  Plant operation ............|   115,707|   216,072|   194,365|   427,587|  1,085,036|  2,537,257|  9,744,785|\2\  20,261,415|\2\  31,190,295|\2\  34,829,109|\2\  36,830,517
  Plant maintenance ..........|    30,432|    78,810|    73,321|   214,164|    422,586|    974,941|     (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\)
  Fixed charges ..............|     9,286|    50,270|    50,116|   261,469|    909,323|  3,266,920| 11,793,934|           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Other school services\4\ ...|    36,387|   101,993|   129,141|   451,663|  1,033,297|  2,561,856|  7,923,729|\2\  38,070,548|\2\  67,650,776|\2\  78,571,464|\2\  83,278,285
Other current expenditures ...|     3,277|     9,825|    13,367|    35,614|    132,566|    635,803|    597,585|      2,982,543|      5,457,015|      6,530,554|      6,873,755
  Summer schools .............|    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |     13,263|    106,481|     24,753|           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Adult education\5\ .........|     3,277|     9,825|    13,367|    35,614|     26,858|    128,778|       --- |           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Community colleges .........|    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |     34,492|    138,813|       --- |           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Community services .........|    (\4\) |    (\4\) |    (\4\) |    (\4\) |     57,953|    261,731|    572,832|           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
Capital outlay\6\ ............|   153,543|   370,878|   257,974| 1,014,176|  2,661,786|  4,659,072|  6,506,167|     17,781,342|     43,357,186|     49,960,542|     48,940,374
Interest on school debt ......|    18,212|    92,536|   130,909|   100,578|    489,514|  1,170,782|  1,873,666|      3,776,321|      9,135,445|     10,495,301|     11,499,160
                              |==========|==========|==========|==========|===========|===========|===========|===============|===============|===============|===============
                              |                                                                   Percentage distribution
                              |_______________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________ _______________ _______________
     Total expenditures ......|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|     100.0|      100.0|      100.0|      100.0|          100.0|          100.0|          100.0|          100.0
                              |__________|__________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________
Current expenditures for      |          |          |          |          |           |           |           |               |               |               |
   public elementary and      |          |          |          |          |           |           |           |               |               |               |
   secondary education .......|      83.1|      79.6|      82.8|      80.3|       79.0|       84.1|       90.6|           88.5|           84.8|           84.6|           85.2
  Administration .............|       3.5|       3.4|       3.9|       3.8|        3.4|        3.9|        4.4|\2\         7.7|\2\         6.6|\2\         6.5|\2\         6.5
  Instruction ................|      61.0|      56.9|      59.9|      53.3|       53.5|       57.2|       55.5|\2\        53.4|\2\        52.4|\2\        52.1|\2\        52.3
  Plant operation ............|      11.2|       9.3|       8.3|       7.3|        6.9|        6.2|       10.2|\2\         9.5|\2\         8.2|\2\         8.0|\2\         8.1
  Plant maintenance ..........|       2.9|       3.4|       3.1|       3.7|        2.7|        2.4|     (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\) |         (\3\)
  Fixed charges ..............|       0.9|       2.2|       2.1|       4.5|        5.8|        8.0|       12.3|           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Other school services\4\ ...|       3.5|       4.4|       5.5|       7.7|        6.6|        6.3|        8.3|           17.9|           17.7|           18.0|           18.3
Other current expenditures ...|       0.3|       0.4|       0.6|       0.6|        0.8|        1.6|        0.6|            1.4|            1.4|            1.5|            1.5
  Summer schools .............|    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |        0.1|        0.3|         # |           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Adult education\5\ .........|       0.3|       0.4|       0.6|       0.6|        0.2|        0.3|       --- |           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Community colleges .........|    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |    (\5\) |        0.2|        0.3|       --- |           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
  Community services .........|    (\4\) |    (\4\) |    (\4\) |    (\4\) |        0.4|        0.6|        0.6|           --- |           --- |           --- |           ---
Capital outlay\6\ ............|      14.8|      16.0|      11.0|      17.4|       17.0|       11.5|        6.8|            8.4|           11.4|           11.5|           10.8
Interest on school debt ......|       1.8|       4.0|       5.6|       1.7|        3.1|        2.9|        2.0|            1.8|            2.4|            2.4|            2.5
______________________________|__________|__________|__________|__________|___________|___________|___________|_______________|_______________|_______________|_______________
---Not available.
#Rounds to zero.
\1\Data are revised from previously published figures.
\2\Data not comparable to figures prior to 1989-90.
\3\Plant operation also includes plant maintenance.
\4\Prior to 1959-60, items included under "other school services" were listed under "auxiliary services," a more comprehensive classification that also included community services.
\5\Prior to 1959-60, data shown for adult education represent combined expenditures for adult education, summer schools, and community colleges.
\6\Prior to 1969-70, excludes capital outlay by state and local school housing authorities.
NOTE: Beginning in 1959-60, includes Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning in 1989-90, state administration expenditures were excluded from both "total" and "current" expenditures. Beginning in 1989-90, extensive changes were made in the data collection procedures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1959-60 and 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1979-80; and The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2002-03. (This table was prepared July 2005.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest