Dive Brief:
- A 24/7 Wall St. review of the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent release on education spending found that while public spending per student continues to fall nationally, there are still several factors causing spending to vary largely from state to state.
- According to the Census data, there is a disproportionate gap of almost $13,000 between New York, the top spending state at $19,552 per pupil), and Utah, which spends the least at $6,206. The analysis found top per-pupil spenders tend to be in the Northeast and the lowest spenders in the South and West.
- The analysis also found that property tax revenue and household income largely impact per-pupil spending. The 10 states that spent the most all had median household incomes above the U.S. median, while 9 of the 10 states spending the least had below-median household incomes.
Dive Insight:
The U.S. Census Bureau data says the top five spenders on education per pupil are New York ($19,522), Alaska ($17,390), New Jersey ($17,266), Connecticut ($16,273), and Vermont ($16,039). The five lowest spenders are Utah ($6,206), Idaho ($6,658), Oklahoma ($7,466), Arizona ($7,558), and Mississippi ($8,164).
One interesting thing to note: USA Today's analysis found that spending more money on students doesn't necessarily translate into higher test scores. Alaska (No. 2) and Delaware (No. 9) both have below-average NAEP scores. According to Michael Leachman, the director of state fiscal research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, spending is driven by major factors such as state size, labor costs, and geography. As the 24/7 Wall St. research shows, many of the lowest spenders may have more of a rural population. Leachman had pointed out that rural schools must pay more for transportation, which could affect how much they have left for per-pupil funding.