If you believe that children are indeed our future, it won’t be a cheap one.
Newly released Census data shows public spending per pupil increased by 3.2 percent to $11,762 in 2016. And that’s due, at least in part, to school systems doing better in terms of finances overall.
In 2016, public elementary-secondary education revenue, from all sources, amounted to $670.9 billion, up 4.6 percent from the prior year. That’s the largest increase since 2007.
And that’s likely the result of an improving economy overall in the wake of the Great Recession.
See how much each state spends on its students below:
A note about the data: Includes the amount spent per pupil by the elementary-secondary public school system in that state which encompasses regular, special and/or vocational programs for children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Only charter schools whose charters are held by government entities are included. The data is for fiscal year 2016 which began on July 1, 2015, and ended on June 30, 2016, for all states with the exception of Alabama, Washington D.C., Nebraska, Texas and Washington state. Fiscal year 2016 for Alabama and Washington D.C. was from Oct. 1, 2015, until Sept. 30, 2016. For Nebraska, Texas and Washington state, it was from Sept. 1, 2015, through Aug. 31, 2016.
