Fast Facts

Question:
How much money does the United States spend on public elementary and secondary schools?

Response:
School districts had total expenditures of approximately $562.3 billion in 2006–07, including about $476.8 billion in current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education. Of the remaining expenditures, $62.9 billion was spent on capital outlay, $14.7 billion on interest payments on debt, and $7.8 billion on other programs (programs such as community services and adult education, which are not a part of public elementary and secondary education).

After adjustment for inflation, current expenditures per student in fall enrollment at public schools rose during the 1980s, remained stable during the first part of the 1990s, and rose again after 1992–93. There was an increase of 37 percent from 1980–81 to 1990–91; a change of less than 1 percent from 1990–91 to 1994–95 (which resulted from small decreases at the beginning of this period, followed by small increases after 1992–93); and an increase of 29 percent from 1994–95 to 2006–07. In 2006–07, current expenditures per student in fall enrollment were $9,683 in unadjusted dollars. In 2006–07, some 56 percent of students in public schools were transported at public expense at a cost of $779 per pupil, also in unadjusted dollars .

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2010). Digest of Education Statistics, 2009 (NCES 2010-013)Table 180 and Chapter 2 .