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Digest of Education Statistics
2022 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 school years, 1919-20 through 2019-20
School year Total expenditures Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education Current
expenditures for
other programs1
Capital outlay Interest on school debt
Total Instruction2 Administration2 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
2017-18 734,579,608 639,698,559 387,956,966 48,302,934 59,369,464 144,069,195 --- 8,224,089 67,247,783   19,409,177
                       
2018-196 769,124,638 666,951,524 403,039,543 50,398,304 61,488,333 152,025,344 --- 8,600,902 73,129,514   20,442,697
2019-206 793,718,886 682,217,081 412,616,246 52,253,311 61,895,001 155,452,524 --- 8,739,021 81,334,789   21,427,996
  Amounts in thousands of constant 2021-22 dollars7
1919-20 $15,332,964 $12,742,855 $9,360,565 $543,856 $2,162,565 $538,455 $137,414 $48,493 $2,272,130 5 $269,501
1929-30 38,172,928 30,375,553 21,711,721 1,296,382 4,858,666 1,680,503 828,281 161,883 6,110,825 5 1,524,683
1939-40 47,304,544 39,186,859 28,319,270 1,847,967 5,402,090 2,606,155 1,011,376 269,755 5,206,095 5 2,641,835
1949-50 69,515,668 55,816,874 37,062,286 2,620,394 7,642,082 5,378,482 3,113,618 424,098 12,076,984 5 1,197,700
1959-60 149,858,146 118,339,151 80,151,525 5,071,732 14,470,362 9,917,726 8,727,806 1,272,387 25,548,186   4,698,422
                       
1969-70 303,739,358 255,467,266 173,733,213 11,995,096 26,221,801 19,126,620 24,390,574 4,746,856 34,784,274   8,740,969
1979-80 348,607,770 315,994,732 193,474,663 15,489,315 35,400,714 28,785,208 42,844,833 2,170,898 23,635,509   6,806,627
1989-90 472,584,284 418,077,827 252,207,768 36,308,440 45,002,801 84,558,817 --- 6,624,552 39,494,290   8,387,619
1999-2000 636,109,285 539,570,195 333,129,593 41,779,938 51,960,329 112,700,332 --- 9,090,915 72,229,316   15,218,861
2000-01 661,705,548 561,114,959 345,232,414 42,989,043 54,819,811 118,073,691 --- 9,766,978 74,449,035   16,374,575
                       
2008-09 801,868,764 681,779,922 415,271,897 50,991,747 66,426,311 149,089,968 --- 11,120,043 86,569,189   22,399,609
2009-10 789,878,975 682,782,617 417,977,045 50,712,996 65,093,329 148,999,247 --- 10,872,885 73,800,049   22,423,425
2010-11 770,933,984 672,628,239 411,437,600 49,947,049 64,055,350 147,188,239 --- 10,411,015 65,017,309   22,877,421
2011-12 746,061,906 653,377,798 397,814,455 48,943,082 61,760,412 144,859,849 --- 10,148,334 60,470,618   22,065,155
2012-13 739,723,195 653,150,754 397,016,332 49,187,338 61,773,694 145,173,390 --- 9,790,531 55,734,710   21,047,200
                       
2013-14 750,197,894 664,357,279 403,807,026 49,857,345 63,676,304 147,016,604 --- 9,513,774 55,739,062   20,587,779
2014-15 775,896,865 685,568,887 416,410,619 51,630,143 64,585,253 152,942,872 --- 9,192,009 60,307,332   20,828,638
2015-16 802,027,137 705,676,254 429,780,712 53,562,224 65,152,425 157,180,894 --- 9,366,980 66,269,868   20,714,034
2016-17 821,499,070 719,765,891 437,073,209 54,410,840 66,929,380 161,352,463 --- 9,175,876 71,243,550   21,313,753
2017-18 834,937,951 727,094,243 440,959,687 54,902,086 67,480,526 163,751,943 --- 9,347,664 76,435,182   22,060,861
                       
2018-196 856,453,938 742,679,705 448,802,167 56,120,716 68,469,950 169,286,873 --- 9,577,481 81,432,914   22,763,838
2019-206 870,227,302 747,977,578 452,389,289 57,290,129 67,861,204 170,436,955 --- 9,581,396 89,174,839   23,493,490
  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 6.6 8.1 19.6 --- 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
2019-206 100.0 86.0 52.0 6.6 7.8 19.6 --- 1.1 10.2   2.7
---Not available.
1Includes expenditures for summer schools, adult education, community colleges, and community services.
2Data for 1989-90 and later are not comparable to figures prior to 1989-90.
3Includes 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.
4Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
5Prior to 1969-70, excludes capital outlay by state and local school housing authorities.
6Excludes prekindergarten expenditures for California.
7Constant 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 2019-20. (This table was prepared September 2022.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest