Regular school districts had median total revenues per pupil of $10,173 in fiscal year (FY) 2006
(table 1). The federal range
ratio2 was 1.9, which indicates that the magnitude of the difference
between total revenues per pupil at the 5th ($7,349) and 95th ($21,048) percentiles of districts was approximately
190 percent. Independent charter school districts had median total revenues per pupil of $8,357 in FY 06, with a
federal range ratio of 1.9.
For regular school districts, median current expenditures per pupil were $8,587 in FY 06
(table 2). Median expenditures per pupil on instruction and
instruction-related activities in regular school districts were $5,528. For independent charter school districts,
median current expenditures per pupil were $7,499 in FY 06. Median expenditures per pupil on instruction and
instruction-related activities in independent charter school districts were $4,123.
In FY 06, the lowest five percent of regular school districts had current expenditures per pupil of $6,464
or less, while the highest 5 percent had current expenditures per pupil of $16,150 or more, with a federal
range ratio of 1.5 (table 3). The lowest five percent
of independent charter school districts had current expenditures per pupil of $4,728 or less, while the
highest 5 percent had current expenditures per pupil of $15,095 or more, with a federal range ratio of 2.2.
Unified regular school districts3 had median current expenditures per
pupil of $8,401 in FY 06, with a
federal range ratio of 1.3, while unified independent charter school districts had median current expenditures
per pupil of $7,076, with a federal range ratio of 2.7 (table 4).
Table 5 compares regular school districts with independent
charter school districts. The independent charter school districts had greater variation in spending (e.g., the
federal range ratio for total expenditures per pupil for regular school districts was 1.7, while the federal
range ratio for independent charter school districts was 2.4).
There were 20 states that reported data for independent charter school districts in FY 06. Median current
expenditures per pupil ranged from a low of $6,321 in Utah to a high of $13,446 in the District of Columbia
for regular noncharter school districts that included no charter schools
(table 6). Median current expenditures per pupil ranged from
$4,952 in Idaho to $13,970 in Oregon for independent charter school districts in the same set of states.
In FY 06, current expenditures per pupil in the 100 largest public school districts ranged from a low of
$4,918 in Alpine School District, Utah, to a high of $17,421 in Boston City Schools, Massachusetts
(table 7).
Approximately $47.5 billion was received by local education agencies from the federal government for
public elementary and secondary education in FY 06 (table 8).
2 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the amount per pupil of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile divided by the amount per pupil for the district at the 5th percentile. More information about the federal range ratio can be found in Appendix A: Methodology and Technical Notes. 3 Unified districts provide both elementary and secondary education services and instruction.
