Approximately $440 billion
in revenue was raised to fund public education for grades prekindergarten
through 12 in school year
2002–03, also referred to as fiscal year 2003. Total expenditures
for public education, including school construction, debt financing,
community services, and adult education programs, came to $455
billion.
Current expenditures (those excluding construction,
equipment, and debt financing) were over $387 billion, a 5.2 percent
increase from fiscal year 2002. About three out of every five current
expenditure dollars were spent on teachers, textbooks, and other
instructional services and supplies. An average of $8,044 was spent
on each student-an increase of 4.0 percent from $7,734 in school
year 2001–02 (in unadjusted dollars).1
Revenues for Public Elementary and Secondary Education
- Approximately $440 billion were collected for public elementary
and secondary education for school year
2002–03 in the 50 states
and the District of Columbia (table 1). Total revenues ranged
from a high of around $57 billion in California, which serves
about 1 out of every 8 students in the nation, to a low of about
$825 million in North Dakota, which serves roughly 1 out of every
449 students in the nation (table 5).
- Nationally, revenues increased an average of 4.9 percent over
the previous year's revenues of nearly $420 billion (in unadjusted
dollars).
- The greatest part of education revenues came from state and
local governments, which together provided nearly $403 billion
or 91.5 percent of all revenues (tables 2 and 3).
- The federal government contribution to education revenues made
up approximately $38 billion. The relative contributions from
these levels of government can be expressed as portions of the
typical education dollar (figure 1).
Local sources for school year
2002–03 made up 43 cents of every dollar in revenue; state
revenues comprised 49 cents; and the remaining 9 cents came
from federal sources. (The cents do not sum to $1 due to rounding.)
- Among states with more than one school district, revenues from
local sources ranged from 12.9 percent in New Mexico to 62.8 percent
in Nevada (table 2).2 Revenues from state sources also showed a
wide distribution in their share of total revenues. The state
revenue share of total revenues was 30.2 percent in Nevada and
73.8 percent in Minnesota. Federal revenues ranged from 4.3 percent
in New Jersey to 17.7 percent in Alaska. Federal sources contributed
10 percent or more of the revenues in Alabama, Alaska, Arizona,
Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South
Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Current Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education
- Current expenditures for public education in
2002–03 totaled
approximately $388 billion (table 3). This represents a $19 billion
(5.2 percent) increase over expenditures in the previous school
year ($368 billion in unadjusted dollars). Nearly $238 billion
in current expenditures was spent on instruction. Instructional
expenditures include teacher salaries and benefits, supplies
(e.g., textbooks), and purchased services. Another $134 billion
were expended for a cluster of services that support instruction.
Almost $16 billion were spent on noninstructional services.
- Expressed in terms of the typical education dollar, instructional
expenditures accounted for approximately 61 cents of the education
dollar for current expenditures (figure 2). About 35 cents of
the education dollar went for support services, which include
operation and maintenance of buildings, school administration,
transportation, and other student and school support activities
(e.g., student counseling, libraries, and health services). Just
over 4 cents of every education dollar went to noninstructional
activities, which include school meals and enterprise activities,
such as bookstores.
- Most states were clustered around the national average (61.3
percent) in terms of the share of current expenditures spent on
instruction. Among the states, New Mexico spent the smallest percentage
(55.5 percent) of their current expenditures on instruction, while
New York spent the largest percentage (68.7 percent) of their
current expenditures on instruction. The District of Columbia
spent 52.5 percent of their current expenditures on instruction
(table 4).
Current Expenditures per Student
- In
2002–03, the 50 states and the District of Columbia
spent an average of $8,044 in current expenditures for every
pupil in membership (table
5). This represents a 4.0 percent increase
in current expenditures per student from the previous school
year ($7,734 in unadjusted dollars).
- The median of the state per pupil expenditures was $7,574, indicating
that one-half of all states educated students at a cost of less
than $7,574 per student (derived from table 5). Three states-New
Jersey ($12,568), New York ($11,961), and Connecticut ($11,057)-expended
more than $11,000 per pupil. The District of Columbia, which comprises
a single urban district, spent $11,847 per pupil. Only one state,
Utah, had expenditures of less than $5,000 for each pupil in membership
($4,838).
- On average, for every student in
2002–03, about $4,934
was spent for instructional services. Expenditures per pupil
for instruction ranged from $3,103 in Utah to $ 8,213 in New
York. Support services expenditures per pupil were highest in
the District of Columbia ($5,331) and New Jersey ($4,757) and
lowest in Mississippi ($1,966), Tennessee ($1,885), and Utah
($1,461). Expenditures per pupil for noninstructional services
such as food services were $329 for the nation.
Expenditures for Instruction
- Expenditures for instruction totaled nearly $238 billion for
school year
2002–03 (table 6). Nearly $169 billion went for salaries
for teachers and instructional aides. Benefits for instructional
staff made up almost $46 billion, bringing the total for salaries
and benefits for teachers and teacher aides to nearly $215 billion.
- Instructional supplies, including textbooks, made up over $11
billion. (Expenditures for computers and desks are not considered
current expenditures, but are otherwise part of replacement equipment
in table 7.) Expenditures for purchased services were over $7
billion. These expenditures include the costs for contract teachers
(who are not on the school district's payroll), educational television,
computer-assisted instruction, and rental of equipment for instruction.
- Tuition expenditures for sending students to out-of-state schools
and nonpublic schools within the state totaled over $3 billion.
Total Expenditures
- Total expenditures made by school districts came to approximately
$455 billion in the
2002–03 school year (table 7). About $388
billion of total expenditures were current expenditures for public
elementary and secondary education. Of the total expenditures
made by school districts, a little less than $43 billion was
spent on facilities acquisition and construction, about $6 billion
was spent on replacement equipment, and little over $11 billion
was spent on interest payments on debt. The remaining amount
($7 billion) was spent on other programs, such as community services
and adult education, which are not part of public elementary
and secondary education.
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Footnotes
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1 Comparisons are based on the previous edition of this report, Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2001-02 (NCES 2004-341).
2 Both the District of Columbia and Hawaii have only one school district each. Therefore, neither is comparable to other states. Hawaii funds public education primarily through state taxes. Local revenues in Hawaii consist almost entirely of student fees and charges for services, such as food services, summer school, and student activities. |
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