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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.10. Summary of expenditures for public elementary and secondary education and other related programs, by function: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2018-19
School year Total expenditures Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education Current expenditures for other programs1 Capital outlay Interest on school debt
Total Instruc- tion2 Adminis- tration2 Operation and maintenance2 Other school services2,3 Fixed charges
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
  Amounts in thousands of unadjusted dollars4
1919-20 $1,036,151 $861,120 $632,556 $36,752 $146,139 $36,387 $9,286 $3,277 $153,543 5 $18,212
1929-30 2,316,790 1,843,552 1,317,727 78,680 294,882 101,993 50,270 9,825 370,878 5 92,536
1939-40 2,344,049 1,941,799 1,403,285 91,571 267,686 129,141 50,116 13,367 257,974 5 130,909
1949-50 5,837,643 4,687,274 3,112,340 220,050 641,751 451,663 261,469 35,614 1,014,176 5 100,578
1959-60 15,613,254 12,329,388 8,350,738 528,408 1,507,622 1,033,297 909,323 132,566 2,661,786 5 489,514

1969-70
40,683,429 34,217,773 23,270,158 1,606,646 3,512,198 2,561,856 3,266,920 635,803 4,659,072   1,170,782
1979-80 95,961,561 86,984,142 53,257,937 4,263,757 9,744,785 7,923,729 11,793,934 597,585 6,506,167   1,873,666
1989-90 212,769,564 188,229,359 113,550,405 16,346,991 20,261,415 38,070,548 --- 2,982,543 17,781,342   3,776,321
1999-2000 381,838,155 323,888,508 199,968,138 25,079,298 31,190,295 67,650,776 --- 5,457,015 43,357,186   9,135,445
2000-01 410,811,185 348,360,841 214,333,003 26,689,182 34,034,158 73,304,498 --- 6,063,700 46,220,704   10,165,940

2008-09
610,326,007 518,922,842 316,075,710 38,811,325 50,559,027 113,476,779 --- 8,463,793 65,890,367   17,049,004
2009-10 607,018,292 524,715,242 321,213,401 38,972,700 50,023,919 114,505,223 --- 8,355,761 56,714,992   17,232,297
2010-11 604,355,852 527,291,339 322,536,983 39,154,833 50,214,709 115,384,813 --- 8,161,474 50,968,815   17,934,224
2011-12 601,993,584 527,207,246 320,994,474 39,491,926 49,834,165 116,886,681 --- 8,188,640 48,793,436   17,804,262
2012-13 606,813,352 535,795,823 325,682,380 40,349,598 50,674,499 119,089,346 --- 8,031,416 45,720,570   17,265,542

2013-14
625,018,277 553,501,209 336,426,927 41,538,042 53,051,141 122,485,100 --- 7,926,285 46,438,323   17,152,459
2014-15 651,135,383 575,331,825 349,453,258 43,328,198 54,200,172 128,350,197 --- 7,713,966 50,610,125   17,479,466
2015-16 677,605,095 596,201,554 363,106,915 45,252,877 55,045,039 132,796,722 --- 7,913,839 55,989,128   17,500,574
2016-17 706,822,581 619,290,762 376,060,333 46,815,403 57,586,428 138,828,598 --- 7,894,977 61,298,365   18,338,477
2017-18 734,876,044 639,951,946 388,218,590 48,912,673 59,378,275 143,442,408 --- 8,221,932 67,346,066   19,356,101
2018-196 769,038,919 666,865,401 403,040,525 50,398,304 61,488,333 151,938,238 --- 8,599,919 73,130,901   20,442,697
  Amounts in thousands of constant 2020-21 dollars7
1919-20 $14,307,072 $11,890,261 $8,734,271 $507,468 $2,017,873 $502,428 $128,220 $45,248 $2,120,107 5 $251,470
1929-30 35,617,550 28,342,148 20,258,292 1,209,600 4,533,417 1,568,006 772,834 151,046 5,701,754 5 1,422,617
1939-40 44,138,736 36,564,318 26,424,032 1,724,293 5,040,561 2,431,741 943,691 251,702 4,857,683 5 2,465,033
1949-50 64,864,316 52,082,109 34,582,417 2,445,061 7,130,744 5,018,603 2,905,283 395,721 11,268,903 5 1,117,561
1959-60 139,830,630 110,420,678 74,788,315 4,732,365 13,502,101 9,254,097 8,143,799 1,187,247 23,838,670 5 4,384,035

1969-70
283,411,913 238,370,417 162,106,296 11,192,336 24,466,934 17,846,591 22,758,260 4,429,178 32,456,372   8,155,988
1979-80 325,278,950 294,848,376 180,527,345 14,452,770 33,031,699 26,858,903 39,977,658 2,025,622 22,053,822   6,351,128
1989-90 440,957,067 390,098,398 235,329,022 33,878,535 41,991,035 78,899,805 --- 6,181,210 36,851,175   7,826,286
1999-2000 593,537,156 503,459,020 310,834,626 38,983,782 48,482,842 105,157,771 --- 8,482,498 67,395,311   14,200,326
2000-01 617,420,409 523,561,920 322,127,477 40,111,969 51,150,954 110,171,521 --- 9,113,316 69,466,478   15,278,694

2008-09
748,203,649 636,151,761 387,479,801 47,579,122 61,980,726 139,112,113 --- 10,375,834 80,775,541   20,900,514
2009-10 737,017,420 637,088,337 390,004,510 47,319,099 60,737,049 139,027,679 --- 10,145,232 68,861,083   20,922,768
2010-11 719,340,562 627,613,759 383,902,851 46,604,429 59,768,557 137,337,921 --- 9,714,275 60,666,139   21,346,389
2011-12 696,131,715 609,650,491 371,190,723 45,667,567 57,627,097 135,165,104 --- 9,469,157 56,423,622   20,588,445
2012-13 690,218,975 609,440,189 370,446,955 45,895,592 57,639,636 135,458,005 --- 9,135,323 52,004,797   19,638,666

2013-14
699,991,422 619,895,631 376,782,522 46,520,677 59,414,812 137,177,620 --- 8,877,071 52,008,764   19,209,957
2014-15 723,969,490 639,686,767 388,542,082 48,174,764 60,262,845 142,707,076 --- 8,576,828 56,271,226   19,434,669
2015-16 748,353,604 658,450,748 401,018,781 49,977,714 60,792,272 146,661,981 --- 8,740,120 61,834,934   19,327,802
2016-17 766,521,616 671,596,760 407,822,814 50,769,485 62,450,243 150,554,218 --- 8,561,796 66,475,694   19,887,366
2017-18 779,375,664 678,703,540 411,726,744 51,874,527 62,973,862 152,128,407 --- 8,719,802 71,424,133   20,528,188
2018-196 799,048,283 692,887,759 418,767,935 52,364,942 63,887,725 157,867,158 --- 8,935,505 75,984,608   21,240,410
  Percentage distribution
1919-20 100.0 83.1 61.0 3.5 14.1 3.5 0.9 0.3 14.8 5 1.8
1929-30 100.0 79.6 56.9 3.4 12.7 4.4 2.2 0.4 16.0 5 4.0
1939-40 100.0 82.8 59.9 3.9 11.4 5.5 2.1 0.6 11.0 5 5.6
1949-50 100.0 80.3 53.3 3.8 11.0 7.7 4.5 0.6 17.4 5 1.7
1959-60 100.0 79.0 53.5 3.4 9.7 6.6 5.8 0.8 17.0 5 3.1

1969-70
100.0 84.1 57.2 3.9 8.6 6.3 8.0 1.6 11.5   2.9
1979-80 100.0 90.6 55.5 4.4 10.2 8.3 12.3 0.6 6.8   2.0
1989-90 100.0 88.5 53.4 7.7 9.5 17.9 --- 1.4 8.4   1.8
1999-2000 100.0 84.8 52.4 6.6 8.2 17.7 --- 1.4 11.4   2.4
2000-01 100.0 84.8 52.2 6.5 8.3 17.8 --- 1.5 11.3   2.5

2008-09
100.0 85.0 51.8 6.4 8.3 18.6 --- 1.4 10.8   2.8
2009-10 100.0 86.4 52.9 6.4 8.2 18.9 --- 1.4 9.3   2.8
2010-11 100.0 87.2 53.4 6.5 8.3 19.1 --- 1.4 8.4   3.0
2011-12 100.0 87.6 53.3 6.6 8.3 19.4 --- 1.4 8.1   3.0
2012-13 100.0 88.3 53.7 6.6 8.4 19.6 --- 1.3 7.5   2.8

2013-14
100.0 88.6 53.8 6.6 8.5 19.6 --- 1.3 7.4   2.7
2014-15 100.0 88.4 53.7 6.7 8.3 19.7 --- 1.2 7.8   2.7
2015-16 100.0 88.0 53.6 6.7 8.1 19.6 --- 1.2 8.3   2.6
2016-17 100.0 87.6 53.2 6.6 8.1 19.6 --- 1.1 8.7   2.6
2017-18 100.0 87.1 52.8 6.7 8.1 19.5 --- 1.1 9.2   2.6
2018-196 100.0 86.7 52.4 6.6 8.0 19.8 --- 1.1 9.5   2.7
---Not available.
1 Includes expenditures for summer schools, adult education, community colleges, and community services.
2 Data for 1989-90 and later are not comparable to figures prior to 1989-90.
3 Includes student support services, instructional staff support services, student transportation support services, other support services, food services, and enterprise operations. Prior to 1959-60, items included under "other school services" were listed under "auxiliary services," a more comprehensive classification that also included community services.
4 Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
5 Prior to 1969-70, excludes capital outlay by state and local school housing authorities.
6 Excludes prekindergarten expenditures for California.
7 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. 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. Some data have been revised from previously published figures.
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 Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2018-19. (This table was prepared September 2021.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest