Revenues and Expenditures Per Pupil for Public School Districts Increased Between School Year 2014-15 and 2015-16

The national median of total revenues per pupil and expenditures per pupil increased across all public school districts between budget years 2015 and 2016. 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 2015-16. The report uses data from the 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 16, current expenditures per pupil in the 100 largest public school districts by enrollment ranged from a low of $6,175 in Jordan School District, Utah to a high of $24,109 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 $11,669 in: Boston City Schools, Massachusetts ($22,082); Howard County Public Schools, Maryland ($15,476); and Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland ($15,195) The report also provides information on a regional basis, although a geographic cost adjustment was not applied. In FY 16, current expenditures per pupil from the two largest school districts within each state by region were highest in: Northeast: New York City Public Schools, New York ($24,109); and Boston City Schools, Massachusetts ($22,082);  South: District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia ($20,699), and Christina School District, Delaware ($18,047) Midwest: Cleveland Municipal School District, Ohio ($16,313) and St. Paul Public School District, Minnesota ($16,046); and West: Laramie County School District #1, Wyoming ($15,785), and Matanuska‑Susitna Borough School, Alaska ($14,763) 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 21 out of the 25 states that met reporting standards for reporting finance data for independent charter school districts.