Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures

 Complete report

This edition of the State Expenditure Report includes data from estimated fiscal 2018, actual fiscal 2017, and actual fiscal 2016. The report includes 50-state data broken down by fund source and program area, as well as information on state gen-eral fund revenue collections.  

Overall state spending on elementary and secondary education totaled $398.8 billion in fiscal 2018, an increase of 4.6 percent. State funds (general funds and other state funds combined, excluding bonds) increased by 4.6 percent and federal funds grew 3.0 percent. The growth rate in fiscal 2017 for elementary and secondary education was lower, at 2.8 percent; state funding grew by 3.4 percent, and federal funds declined by 0.1 percent.

As the national economy and state revenues grow moderately, elementary and secondary education continues to receive increased funding in state budgets. Some states are also taking targeted steps to increase teacher compensation to improve recruitment and retention, as well as in response to teacher shortages and walkouts. Other states are boosting spending levels and improving funding equity in response to court mandates.

Early education is another area where states are investing greater resources. While average growth has been modest in recent years, K-12 spending changes in fiscal 2017 and fiscal 2018 vary by state due to differing economic and fiscal conditions, as well as demographic trends.

Elementary and secondary education continues to be the largest category of state general fund spending, comprising 35.8 percent of state general fund spending in fiscal 2018, 35.7 per-cent in fiscal 2017, and 35.5 percent in fiscal 2016. In fact, K-12 education as a share of general fund spending has remained markedly consistent over the years, being between 34 and 36 percent every year since fiscal 1996.

Elementary and secondary education once represented the largest category of total state spending from all funds, but has consistently been the second largest category since fiscal 2009, when it was surpassed by Medicaid.

In fiscal 2018, K-12 comprised 19.6 percent of total state spending, equivalent to its share in fiscal 2017. The vast majority of states support K-12 education primarily through their general funds, though a few states segregate ded-icated revenue sources into a separate education fund; examples include Michigan, New Hampshire and Wyoming. Other states with separate education funds combine their reporting in this survey with their general fund spending (Alabama and Utah).

General funds comprised 73.9 percent of total state elementary and secondary education spending, federal funds comprised 13.5 percent, other state funds comprised 11.8 percent, and bonds comprised 0.8 percent (see Figure 10) in fiscal 2018. The general fund share has been gradually rising to levels above those prior to the Great Recession.