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- Chapter 1: Background and Introduction
- Chapter 2: Revenues
- Chapter 3: Expenditures
- Chapter 4: Instruction and Support Services Expenditures
- Instruction Expenditures
- Total Support Services Expenditures
- Noninstruction Expenditures
- Percentage of Current Expenditures
- Glossary
- List of Tables
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Frank Johnson
Chapter 4: Instruction Expenditures
Between FY 90 and FY 02, inflation-adjusted instruction expenditures in the United States rose from $159.4 billion to $226.6 billion (table 11.a),25 an increase of $67.2 billion, or 42 percent (table 11.b).26 Nevada experienced the largest increase in instruction expenditures between FY 90 and FY 02 (124 percent) and Wyoming the smallest (10 percent).
From FY 90 through FY 94, national instruction expenditures increased approximately 2 percent annually (figure 4-1). Between FY 94 and FY 95, they increased 1 percent; between FY 95 and FY 96, they increased 2 percent. National instruction expenditures increased 6 percent between FY 96 and FY 97 and approximately 4 percent annually from FY 97 through FY 02. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, all but Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio experienced at least one annual percent decrease in instruction expenditures between FY 90 and FY 02 (table 11.b).
Instruction expenditures per pupil
In FY 90, inflation-adjusted instruction expenditures per pupil were $3,931 in the United States (table 11.c). They ranged from a low of $2,341 in Utah to a high of $6,534 in Connecticut. By FY 02, national instruction expenditures per pupil had increased to $4,755 (figure 4-2) and ranged from a low of $3,197 in Utah to a high of $7,660 in New York. During the 13-year period, Utah and Mississippi had the lowest instruction expenditures per pupil while New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut had the highest.
Between FY 90 and FY 02, instruction expenditures per pupil increased $824, or 21 percent (table 11.d). Arkansas experienced the largest increase (44 percent). Florida was the only state to experience a decrease (2 percent). Among the states, the median percent change in instruction expenditures per pupil was 24 percent (derived from table 11.d).
From FY 90 through FY 96, the annual percent change in instruction expenditures per pupil ranged from a 1 percent decline to a 1 percent increase. From FY 96 through FY 01, they increased annually from 3 to 4 percent, and between FY 01 and FY 02, they increased 1 percent. Among the 50 states and the District of Columbia, all but Ohio experienced at least one annual percent decrease in instruction expenditures per pupil between FY 90 and FY 02.
Percentage of current expenditures: Instruction expenditures
Instruction expenditures accounted for just over 60 percent of current expenditures in FY 90 (table 11.e). In FY 02, they accounted for 61 percent.
In FY 90, instruction expenditures accounted for the highest percentage of current expenditures in New York and Maine at 66 percent, and the lowest percentage in Alaska at 50 percent. Instruction expenditures accounted for 45 percent of current expenditures in the District of Columbia. By FY 02, instruction expenditures remained highest in New York at 68 percent, but were lowest in New Mexico at 56 percent. Instruction expenditures accounted for 50 percent of current expenditures in the District of Columbia.27
25 Refer to appendix A for definitions of expenditure items included in this chapter.
26 Please note that the data presented in this chapter are adjusted to take into account inflation utilizing the Consumer Price Index.
27 Please note that the District of Columbia is a single urban school district and is not comparable with other states.
