Research & Reference: New Report: Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2014–15 (Fiscal Year 2015)

From the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES):

The national median of total revenues per pupil and expenditures per pupil increased across all public school districts for two consecutive years during state budget years 2014 and 2015.
A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provides information about revenues and expenditures in the nation’s public school districts for school year 2014-15. The report uses data from the FY 15 provisional School District Finance Survey data file that state education agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia submit to NCES each year.
In FY 15, current expenditures per pupil in the 100 largest public school districts by enrollment ranged from a low of $5,724 in Alpine School District, Utah to a high of $21,980 in New York City School District, New York. In addition to New York City School District, current expenditures per pupil were at least 30 percent higher than the national average of $11,318 in:

• Boston City Schools, Massachusetts ($21,552);
• Anchorage School District, Alaska ($17,046);
• Baltimore City Schools, Maryland ($15,818);
• Howard County Public Schools, Maryland ($15,714);
• and Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland ($15,152)

The report also provides information on a regional basis, although a geographic cost adjustment was not applied. School districts with the highest FY 2015 current expenditures per pupil by region were:

• Northeast: New York City Public Schools, New York ($21,980); Boston City Schools, Massachusetts ($21,552); Newark City Public Schools, New Jersey ($20,929), and Jersey City Public Schools, New Jersey ($20,714);

• South: District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia ($21,071), Christina School District, Delaware ($17,862), Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland ($15,152), and Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland ($14,492);

• Midwest: St. Paul Public School District, Minnesota ($15,557), Cleveland Municipal School District, Ohio ($15,468), Detroit City School District, Michigan ($14,631), and City of Chicago Public Schools ($13,784); and

• West: Anchorage School District, Alaska ($17,046), Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Alaska ($16,965), Laramie County School District #1, Wyoming ($15,583), and Natrona County School District #1, Wyoming ($14,574).

Median current expenditures per pupil in independent charter school districts were lower than median current expenditures per pupil in noncharter school districts and districts that include both charter and noncharter schools in 23 out of the 27 states that met reporting standards for reporting finance data for independent charter school districts.

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