Figure 2.  Inflation-adjusted current expenditures per pupil for public elementary and secondary education in the United States: Fiscal years 1985–2009
NOTE: Current expenditures include instruction, instruction-related, support services, and other elementary/secondary current expenditures, but exclude expenditures on capital outlay, other programs, and interest on long-term debt. Data have been adjusted to fiscal year 2009 dollars to account for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjusted to a fiscal year basis (July through June). The CPI is published by the U.S. Labor Department, Bureau of Labor Statistics. This price index measures the average change in inflation of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. Data include the 50 states and the District of Columbia. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS)," fiscal years 1985–1986, Version 1a; fiscal years 1987–2001, Version 1b; fiscal year 2002, Version 1c; fiscal years 2003–2008, Version 1b; fiscal year 2009, Version 1a; Digest of Education Statistics: 2009, retrieved February 28, 2011.