U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2006-352 

Current Expenditures 

for Public Elementary 

and Secondary 

Education: School 

Year 2003-04

E.D. TAB

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2006-352 

Current Expenditures 

for Public Elementary 

and Secondary 

Education: School 

Year 2003-04

E.D. TAB 

July 2006 

Frank Johnson 

National Center for 

Education Statistics 

Frank Johnson 

Project Officer 

National Center for 

Education Statistics 
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings 

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences 

Grover J. Whitehurst 

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider 

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting, analyzing, and 

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July 2006 

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Suggested Citation 

Johnson, Frank (2006). Current Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 

2003-04 (NCES 2006-352). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education 

Statistics. Retrieved [date] from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006352. 

Content Contact 

Frank Johnson 

(202) 502-7362 

frank.johnson@ed.gov
iii 

Acknowledgments 

The author would like to thank all those people at the state education agencies and local education 

agencies who record, track and report these data. Without their efforts there would be no data to report. 

The author would also like to thank all of the reviewers and editors who have helped make this 

publication presentable to the public: Marilyn Seastrom, Jeffery Owings, Lee Hoffman, Stephen 

Broughman, and Bill Sonnenberg of NCES; Steve Holtzman, Stephen Mistler, Alison Slade and Aparna 

Sundaram of the American Institutes for Research; and Carol Rohr of Kforce Government Solutions.

v 

Contents 

 Page 

Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... iii 

List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... vii 

Summary of Findings ......................................................................................................................1 

 Introduction .........................................................................................................................1 

 Highlights ............................................................................................................................2 

For More Information .....................................................................................................................7 

References .......................................................................................................................................9 

Appendix A: Technical Notes .......................................................................................................11 

Appendix B: Definitions ...............................................................................................................13 

vii 

List of Tables 

Table Page 

1. Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education, by function, 

 state, and other jurisdictions: School year 2003-04..........................................................3 

2. Percentage distribution of current expenditures for public elementary and secondary 

 education, by function, state, and other jurisdictions: School year 2003-04 ....................4 

3. Student membership and current expenditures per student in membership for public 

 elementary and secondary education, by function, state, and other jurisdictions: 

 School year 2003-04 .........................................................................................................5 

4. Current expenditures per student in membership for public elementary and secondary 

 school districts at the 5th percentile, median and 95th percentile, federal range ratio, 

 number of districts, and number of students, by state: School year 2003-04 ...................6 

1 

Summary of Findings 

Introduction 

This report presents current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education for 

school year 2003-04 (or fiscal year 2004). These data are from the National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD), National Public Education Financial Survey 

(NPEFS) and School District Finance Survey (F-33). The data for these collections were reported 

to NCES by state education agencies and represent current expenditures for public education, 

grades prekindergarten, kindergarten, 1 through 12, and ungraded classes. The fiscal year began 

on July 1, 2003 and ended on June 30, 2004 for most states. The fiscal year for Alabama ran 

from October 1, 2003 through September 30, 2004, and the fiscal year for Nebraska and Texas 

ran from September 1, 2003 through August 31, 2004. These data are not adjusted to conform to 

a uniform fiscal year. 

Total current expenditures represent the amounts expended for the day-to-day operation of 

schools and school districts. The majority of these expenditures go towards salaries and benefits 

for school staff; however, they also include purchased services and supplies. Expenditures for 

school construction and other capital outlays, as well as debt services, and programs outside of 

public elementary and secondary education, are not included. Expenditures for the state 

education agency are also excluded from these data. 

This report presents a different breakout of current expenditures than that in previous E.D. TAB 

reports by NCES. The earlier breakouts of instruction, support services and noninstruction have 

been replaced by instruction and instruction-related, student support services, administration, and 

operations. These breakouts provide a clearer picture of how education dollars are spent. The 

category of instruction and instruction-related expenditures brings together expenditures for staff 

and services that work directly with students, such as teachers, teaching assistants, and librarians. 

Student support services include guidance counselors, school nurses, social workers, and 

attendance staff. Administration includes administrators and administrative staff of schools and 

school districts. Operations include the operating expenditures for keeping schools and other 

school district facilities operating, as well as student transportation and food services. The data 

collection has not changed, and it is still possible to re-construct the earlier breakouts from the 

current data file. 

This report is also the first time that data from the state-level NPEFS and district-level F-33 

surveys appear in the same NCES report. The NPEFS data include public education expenditures 

for regular education, special education, and vocational education programs, as well as all charter 

schools (if they reported data to the state education agency). The NPEFS data also include 

expenditures for state-run education programs such as special education centers or education 

programs for incarcerated youth. Data in tables 1, 2, and 3 come from the NPEFS survey. 

The F-33 data include only school districts. State-run education agencies are excluded from the 

F-33 data collection. For this report, only regular school districts with student counts greater than 

zero, with current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 per annum, and that are 

on the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey” file were included in analyses of the 
2 

CCD “Local Education Agency Universe” file.1 There were 13,932 such districts in school year 

2003-04. National figures do not include independent charter school districts (i.e., those not 

affiliated with a noncharter school district). Charter schools that are affiliated with regular school 

districts are included in the national and state figures. Data in table 4 come from the F-33 

survey. For more information, please see the Appendix A: Technical Notes. 

Highlights 

• Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education totaled $403 billion 

in 2003-04 (table 1). This is a 4.1 percent increase from the previous year in unadjusted 

dollars. Using the Consumer Price Index inflation factor of 1.0219, the 2003-04 

expenditures represent a 1.8 percent increase from the prior year in constant 2003-04 

dollars.2

• The percentage of current expenditures spent on instruction and instruction-related 

activities was 66.1 percent in 2003-04 for the nation as a whole (table 2). The percentage 

of current expenditures spent on instruction and instruction-related activities in the 50 

states ranged from 60.5 percent in Oklahoma to 71.2 percent in New York. 

• Total current expenditures per student in membership were $8,310 in 2003-04 (table 3). 

This represents a 3.3 percent increase over the prior year in unadjusted dollars. Using the 

Consumer Price Index inflation factor of 1.0219, the 2003-04 expenditure per student 

showed a 1.1 percent increase from the prior year.3

• Current expenditures for instruction and instruction-related activities were $5,492 per 

student in membership in 2003-04. 

• The median current expenditure per student in membership at the school district level 

was $7,860 (table 4). This indicates that half of the school districts spent more than 

$7,860 per student, and half of the school districts spent less than $7,860 per student. 

Ninety percent of school districts spent between $5,855 per student and $14,067 per 

student. 

 

1

 Forty-two districts had expenditures outside of this range and were removed from the analysis. These districts are 

considered outliers with extraordinary expenditures per student, 2

 Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education in school year 2002-03 were 

$387,592,494,244 (CCD, National Public Education Financial Survey, 2002-03). The Consumer Price Index 

adjusted to a school year (July 1 through June 30) was used to adjust this amount to $396,080,769,868 (in 2003-04 

dollars). The Consumer Price Index is produced by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

3

 Current expenditures per student in membership in school year 2002-03 was $8,044 (CCD, National Public 

Education Financial Survey, 2002-03). The Consumer Price Index adjusted to a school year (July 1 through June 30) 

was used to adjust this amount to $8,220 (in 2003-04 dollars). The Consumer Price Index is produced by the U.S. 

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Table 1.—Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education, by function, state, and other jurisdictions: School 

Table 1.—year 2003-04

Instruction and Student

instruction- support

State or jurisdiction Total related service Administration Operations

United States $403,376,186 1 $266,576,498 1 $20,839,154 $44,353,051 1 $71,607,483 1

Alabama 4,812,479 3,093,754 234,496 511,553 972,676

Alaska 1,354,846 846,109 89,319 148,629 270,789

Arizona 6,063,009 3,786,162 334,075 752,337 1,190,435

Arkansas 3,109,644 2,049,358 142,810 353,991 563,484

California 49,215,866 33,032,977 2,201,000 6,086,169 7,895,720

Colorado 5,666,191 3,527,790 253,380 971,459 913,562

Connecticut 6,600,767 4,431,057 373,317 654,872 1,141,521

Delaware 1,201,631 750,356 57,673 152,869 240,732

District of Columbia 1,011,536 617,902 64,960 107,043 221,630

Florida 17,578,884 11,489,958 868,629 1,757,381 3,462,916

Georgia 11,788,616 8,116,312 544,176 1,209,186 1,918,941

Hawaii 1,566,792 1,027,246 173,309 147,914 218,323

Idaho 1,555,006 1,023,724 86,603 156,384 288,295

Illinois 18,081,827 11,549,751 1,124,763 2,194,653 3,212,660

Indiana 8,524,980 5,442,449 379,084 969,054 1,734,392

Iowa 3,669,797 2,420,430 229,115 408,300 611,953

Kansas 3,658,421 2,340,006 208,943 433,119 676,352

Kentucky 4,551,648 2,988,552 1 199,071 479,232 1 884,793 1

Louisiana 5,290,964 3,448,897 232,567 530,294 1,079,206

Maine 1,969,497 1,383,484 65,690 181,450 338,873

Maryland 8,198,454 5,679,936 291,594 751,618 1,475,306

Massachusetts 10,799,765 7,492,665 599,451 968,972 1,738,677

Michigan 15,983,044 9,879,021 1,119,868 2,113,255 2,870,900

Minnesota 7,084,005 4,934,203 224,821 673,609 1,251,372

Mississippi 3,059,569 1,978,551 138,220 329,176 613,621

Missouri 6,832,454 1 4,451,064 1 338,244 745,429 1,297,716

Montana 1,160,838 754,745 59,397 129,855 216,841

Nebraska 2,413,404 1,622,253 97,847 254,971 438,334

Nevada 2,470,581 1,641,258 94,896 318,697 415,729

New Hampshire 1,900,240 1,292,293 127,383 183,271 297,293

New Jersey 18,416,695 11,527,074 1,657,198 1,820,745 3,411,679

New Mexico 2,446,115 1,488,498 242,223 264,424 450,970

New York 36,205,111 25,762,894 1,238,071 3,350,616 5,853,529

North Carolina 8,994,620 6,003,774 462,141 974,537 1,554,168

North Dakota 746,025 468,795 30,092 90,201 156,937

Ohio 16,662,985 10,602,966 996,604 2,234,468 2,828,946

Oklahoma 3,853,308 2,329,604 251,383 435,115 837,205

Oregon 4,199,485 2,656,476 279,158 578,156 685,695

Pennsylvania 17,680,332 11,574,018 851,226 1,913,557 3,341,531

Rhode Island 1,765,585 1,216,956 141,672 153,810 253,147

South Carolina 5,017,833 3,308,438 339,628 489,942 879,825

South Dakota 887,328 560,598 48,469 110,995 167,266

Tennessee 6,056,657 4,206,901 218,594 531,716 1,099,447

Texas 30,974,890 20,391,015 1,506,362 3,302,382 5,775,131

Utah 2,475,550 1,692,928 92,731 231,692 458,199

Vermont 1,111,029 752,475 80,691 125,632 152,231

Virginia 9,798,239 6,619,958 474,174 871,335 1,832,773

Washington 7,549,235 1 4,846,128 1 468,305 868,801 1,366,002

West Virginia 2,415,043 1,553,850 81,553 231,380 548,260

Wisconsin 8,131,276 5,396,077 375,947 1,005,032 1,354,221

Wyoming 814,092 524,810 48,230 93,774 147,279

Other jurisdictions

American Samoa 55,519 32,166 2,456 4,439 16,458

Guam 182,506 108,122 20,503 22,506 31,375

Northern Mariana Islands 47,681 41,078 612 3,758 2,234

Puerto Rico 2,425,372 1,827,728 57,500 69,190 470,953

U.S. Virgin Islands 128,250 87,958 7,175 15,867 17,249

1 Value affected by redistribution of reported values to correct for missing detail data items (not shown on table).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. National totals do not include other jurisdictions. Both the District of Columbia

and Hawaii have only one school district each; therefore, neither is comparable to other states. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public

Education Financial Survey," 2003-04, Version 1a.

[in thousands of dollars]

3
Table 2.—Percentage distribution of current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education, by function, state, and other jurisdictions:

Table 2.—School year 2003-04

Instruction and Student

State or jurisdiction instruction-related support services Administration Operations

United States

1 66.1 5.2 11.0 17.8

Alabama 64.3 4.9 10.6 20.2

Alaska 62.5 6.6 11.0 20.0

Arizona 62.4 5.5 12.4 19.6

Arkansas 65.9 4.6 11.4 18.1

California 67.1 4.5 12.4 16.0

Colorado 62.3 4.5 17.1 16.1

Connecticut 67.1 5.7 9.9 17.3

Delaware 62.4 4.8 12.7 20.0

District of Columbia 61.1 6.4 10.6 21.9

Florida 65.4 4.9 10.0 19.7

Georgia 68.8 4.6 10.3 16.3

Hawaii 65.6 11.1 9.4 13.9

Idaho 65.8 5.6 10.1 18.5

Illinois 63.9 6.2 12.1 17.8

Indiana 63.8 4.4 11.4 20.3

Iowa 66.0 6.2 11.1 16.7

Kansas 64.0 5.7 11.8 18.5

Kentucky

1 65.7 4.4 10.5 19.4

Louisiana 65.2 4.4 10.0 20.4

Maine 70.2 3.3 9.2 17.2

Maryland 69.3 3.6 9.2 18.0

Massachusetts 69.4 5.6 9.0 16.1

Michigan 61.8 7.0 13.2 18.0

Minnesota 69.7 3.2 9.5 17.7

Mississippi 64.7 4.5 10.8 20.1

Missouri1 65.1 5.0 10.9 19.0

Montana 65.0 5.1 11.2 18.7

Nebraska 67.2 4.1 10.6 18.2

Nevada 66.4 3.8 12.9 16.8

New Hampshire 68.0 6.7 9.6 15.6

New Jersey 62.6 9.0 9.9 18.5

New Mexico 60.9 9.9 10.8 18.4

New York 71.2 3.4 9.3 16.2

North Carolina 66.7 5.1 10.8 17.3

North Dakota 62.8 4.0 12.1 21.0

Ohio 63.6 6.0 13.4 17.0

Oklahoma 60.5 6.5 11.3 21.7

Oregon 63.3 6.6 13.8 16.3

Pennsylvania 65.5 4.8 10.8 18.9

Rhode Island 68.9 8.0 8.7 14.3

South Carolina 65.9 6.8 9.8 17.5

South Dakota 63.2 5.5 12.5 18.9

Tennessee 69.5 3.6 8.8 18.2

Texas 65.8 4.9 10.7 18.6

Utah 68.4 3.7 9.4 18.5

Vermont 67.7 7.3 11.3 13.7

Virginia 67.6 4.8 8.9 18.7

Washington1 64.2 6.2 11.5 18.1

West Virginia 64.3 3.4 9.6 22.7

Wisconsin 66.4 4.6 12.4 16.7

Wyoming 64.5 5.9 11.5 18.1

Other jurisdictions

American Samoa 57.9 4.4 8.0 29.6

Guam 59.2 11.2 12.3 17.2

Northern Mariana Islands 86.2 1.3 7.9 4.7

Puerto Rico 75.4 2.4 2.9 19.4

U.S. Virgin Islands 68.6 5.6 12.4 13.4

1 Distribution affected by redistribution of reported values to correct for missing detail data items (not shown on table

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. National totals do not include other jurisdictions. Both the District of Columbia and Hawaii have only 

one school district each; therefore, neither is comparable to other states.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial 

Within-state percentage distribution

Survey," 2003-04, Version 1a.

4
Table 3.—Student membership and current expenditures per student in membership for public elementary and secondary education,

Table 3.—by function, state, and other jurisdictions: School year 2003-04

Instruction and Student 

Fall 2003 student instruction- support

State or jurisdiction membership Total related service Administration Operations

United States 48,540,215 1 $8,310 1,2 $5,492 1,2 $429 1 $914 1 $1,475 1

Alabama 731,220 6,581 4,231 321 700 1,330

Alaska 133,933 10,116 6,317 667 1,110 2,022

Arizona 1,012,068 5,991 3,741 330 743 1,176

Arkansas 454,523 6,842 4,509 314 779 1,240

California 6,413,867 1 7,673 1 5,150 1 343 1 949 1 1,231 1

Colorado 757,693 7,478 4,656 334 1,282 1,206

Connecticut 577,203 11,436 7,677 647 1,135 1,978

Delaware 117,668 10,212 6,377 490 1,299 2,046

District of Columbia 78,057 12,959 7,916 832 1,371 2,839

Florida 2,587,628 6,793 4,440 336 679 1,338

Georgia 1,522,611 7,742 5,331 357 794 1,260

Hawaii 183,609 8,533 5,595 944 806 1,189

Idaho 252,120 6,168 4,060 343 620 1,143

Illinois 2,100,961 8,606 5,497 535 1,045 1,529

Indiana 1,011,130 8,431 5,383 375 958 1,715

Iowa 481,226 7,626 5,030 476 848 1,272

Kansas 470,490 7,776 4,974 444 921 1,438

Kentucky 663,369 6,861 4,505 2 300 722 2 1,334

Louisiana 727,709 7,271 4,739 320 729 1,483

Maine 202,084 9,746 6,846 325 898 1,677

Maryland 869,113 9,433 6,535 336 865 1,697

Massachusetts 980,459 11,015 7,642 611 988 1,773

Michigan 1,757,604 9,094 5,621 637 1,202 1,633

Minnesota 842,854 8,405 5,854 267 799 1,485

Mississippi 493,540 6,199 4,009 280 667 1,243

Missouri 905,941 7,542 2 4,913 2 373 823 1,432

Montana 148,356 7,825 5,087 400 875 1,462

Nebraska 285,542 8,452 5,681 343 893 1,535

Nevada 385,401 6,410 4,259 246 827 1,079

New Hampshire 207,417 9,161 6,230 614 884 1,433

New Jersey 1,380,753 13,338 8,348 1,200 1,319 2,471

New Mexico 323,066 7,572 4,607 750 818 1,396

New York 2,864,775 12,638 8,993 432 1,170 2,043

North Carolina 1,360,209 6,613 4,414 340 716 1,143

North Dakota 102,233 7,297 4,586 294 882 1,535

Ohio 1,845,428 9,029 5,746 540 1,211 1,533

Oklahoma 626,160 6,154 3,720 401 695 1,337

Oregon 551,273 7,618 4,819 506 1,049 1,244

Pennsylvania 1,821,146 9,708 6,355 467 1,051 1,835

Rhode Island 159,375 11,078 7,636 889 965 1,588

South Carolina 699,198 7,177 4,732 486 701 1,258

South Dakota 125,537 7,068 4,466 386 884 1,332

Tennessee 936,682 1 6,466 1 4,491 1 233 1 568 1 1,174 1

Texas 4,331,751 7,151 4,707 348 762 1,333

Utah 495,981 4,991 3,413 187 467 924

Vermont 99,103 11,211 7,593 814 1,268 1,536

Virginia 1,192,092 8,219 5,553 398 731 1,537

Washington 1,021,349 7,391 2 4,745 2 459 851 1,337

West Virginia 281,215 8,588 5,525 290 823 1,950

Wisconsin 880,031 9,240 6,132 427 1,142 1,539

Wyoming 87,462 9,308 6,000 551 1,072 1,684

Other jurisdictions

American Samoa 15,893 3,493 2,024 155 279 1,036

Guam 31,572 5,781 3,425 649 713 994

Northern Mariana Islands 11,244 4,241 3,653 54 334 199

Puerto Rico 584,916 4,147 3,125 98 118 805

U.S. Virgin Islands 17,716 7,239 4,965 405 896 974

1 Prekindergarten students were imputed, affecting total student count and per student expenditure calculation. 2 Value affected by redistribution of reported expenditure values to correct for missing detail data items (not shown on table).

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. National totals do not include other jurisdictions. Both the District of Columbia and

Hawaii have only one school district each; therefore, neither is comparable to other states.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education

Financial Survey," 2003-04, Version 1a.

Current expenditures per student in membership

5
Table 4.—Current expenditures per student in membership for public elementary and secondary school districts at the 5th percentile, median and 95th

Table 4.—percentile, federal range ratio, number of districts, and number of students, by state: School year 2003-04

Number of

5th 95th Federal range Number of students in

State percentile Median percentile ratio1 districts membership

United States $5,855 $7,860 $14,067 1.40 13,932 47,669,953

Alabama 5,684 6,418 7,890 0.39 129 730,418

Alaska 7,643 14,667 23,491 2.07 52 133,138

Arizona 5,388 7,179 16,184 2.00 214 895,911

Arkansas 5,713 6,540 9,033 0.58 308 453,491

California 6,009 7,118 12,100 1.01 971 6,212,057

Colorado 6,166 7,768 13,257 1.15 178 756,319

Connecticut 9,011 10,483 14,140 0.57 166 552,505

Delaware 7,745 9,952 11,277 0.46 16 105,771

District of Columbia † 12,801 † † 1 65,099

Florida 6,031 6,853 8,312 0.38 67 2,592,997

Georgia 6,477 7,423 9,743 0.50 180 1,522,424

Hawaii † 8,369 † † 1 183,609

Idaho 5,130 6,815 11,350 1.21 113 252,013

Illinois 5,805 7,511 11,887 1.05 885 2,079,027

Indiana 6,451 7,466 10,048 0.56 292 1,005,587

Iowa 6,227 7,067 9,471 0.52 369 481,226

Kansas 6,469 8,243 11,193 0.73 300 469,622

Kentucky 5,807 6,685 8,400 0.45 176 663,886

Louisiana 6,147 7,263 9,194 0.50 68 721,414

Maine 7,886 9,771 16,000 1.03 223 201,215

Maryland 8,214 8,809 10,811 0.32 24 869,113

Massachusetts 8,125 9,894 15,506 0.91 301 937,759

Michigan 6,761 7,788 10,757 0.59 570 1,672,602

Minnesota 6,573 7,773 10,680 0.62 345 822,130

Mississippi 5,359 6,370 8,508 0.59 152 492,557

Missouri 5,491 6,717 9,896 0.80 522 914,055

Montana 5,526 8,708 19,400 2.51 436 148,166

Nebraska 5,385 8,400 14,667 1.72 489 284,163

Nevada 6,108 7,983 21,246 2.48 17 385,414

New Hampshire 7,313 9,449 13,902 0.90 162 203,359

New Jersey 9,707 11,881 16,503 0.70 551 1,342,559

New Mexico 6,462 9,204 15,159 1.35 89 323,066

New York 9,837 12,421 19,286 0.96 683 2,843,105

North Carolina 6,128 6,960 8,753 0.43 117 1,325,707

North Dakota 5,612 8,456 14,735 1.63 209 101,826

Ohio 6,558 7,463 10,115 0.54 611 1,797,664

Oklahoma 5,095 6,568 10,450 1.05 541 625,826

Oregon 6,312 7,562 16,154 1.56 196 549,188

Pennsylvania 7,046 8,439 11,501 0.63 500 1,756,012

Rhode Island 8,341 9,961 13,338 0.60 36 156,997

South Carolina 6,140 7,137 9,181 0.50 85 696,376

South Dakota 5,933 7,282 12,535 1.11 169 125,156

Tennessee 5,285 5,987 7,673 0.45 135 911,624

Texas 6,230 7,476 12,483 1.00 1,046 4,273,040

Utah 4,558 5,862 11,158 1.45 40 487,311

Vermont 7,543 9,947 13,878 0.84 240 93,705

Virginia 6,695 7,552 10,757 0.61 132 1,191,035

Washington 6,469 7,477 17,975 1.78 296 1,020,990

West Virginia 7,535 8,496 9,479 0.26 55 280,561

Wisconsin 7,763 8,954 11,186 0.44 426 874,233

Wyoming 8,329 10,446 19,057 1.29 48 86,925

Independent charter school districts 4,397 6,851 12,889 1.93 1,261 365,416

† Not applicable. The District of Columbia and Hawaii consist of one school district each.

1 The federal range ratio indicates the difference between the total current expenditure per student of the district at the 95th percentile and the district at the

5th percentile, divided by the amount for the district at the 5th percentile. A federal range ratio of zero would represent complete spending equity across districts.

NOTE: Current expenditures includes instruction, support services, and noninstruction services, but exclude payments to other school districts and payments

to private schools. National figures do not include independent charter school districts. National and state figures include charter schools that are affiliated 

with regular school districts. Only regular school districts matching the Common Core of Data (CCD), “Local Education Agency Universe Survey,” with student memb

greater than zero, and current expenditures per student between $2,500 and $35,000 were used in creating the national and state figures; 84.5 percent of the 

school districts met this criterion. Charter school districts with revenues greater than zero and expenditures greater than zero were included in the charter school 

analysis; 100 percent of charter school districts met this criterion. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "School District Finance Survey" (F-33),

FY 2004, Version 1a.

Current expenditures per student in membership

6
7 

For More Information 

This report used information from the Common Core of Data, “National Public Education 

Financial Survey: School Year 2003-04” and “School District Finance Survey: School Year 

2003-04.” For more information about this E.D. TAB or the dataset, contact Frank Johnson, 

National Center for Education Statistics, 1990 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20006-5651; or 

call 202-502-7362, fax 202-502-7475, or e-mail frank.johnson@ed.gov. Visit the Common Core 

of Data, National Public Education Financial Survey website to download data files and 

documentation at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/ccddata.asp.

9 

References

Berne, R., and Stiefel, L. (1984). The Measurement of Equity in School Finance. Baltimore, MD: 

Johns Hopkins University Press. 

Hussar, W., and Sonnenberg, W. (2000). Trends in Disparities in School District Level 

Expenditures per Pupil (NCES 2000-020). U.S. Department of Education, National Center 

for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

Parish, T.B., Matsumoto, C.S., and Fowler, W.J. (1995). Disparities in Public School District 

Spending (NCES 95-300). U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 

11 

Appendix A: Technical Notes 

National Public Education Financial Survey 

The National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS) is part of the Common Core of Data 

(CCD) collection of surveys of administrative records data relating to public elementary and 

secondary education. Revenues and expenditures are audited after the close of the fiscal year and 

are then submitted to NCES by each state education agency. NCES collects explanations for all 

missing and zero values from states. The data are processed and edited by NCES and verified by 

staff at each state education agency (SEA). Tables 1, 2, and 3 use data from the NPEFS survey. 

All states and other jurisdictions submitted NPEFS data. 

Researchers generally use current expenditures instead of total expenditures when comparing 

education spending between states or across time because current expenditures exclude 

expenditures for capital outlay, which tend to have dramatic increases and decreases from year to 

year. Also, the current expenditures commonly reported are for public elementary and secondary 

education only. Many school districts also support community services, adult education, private 

education, and other programs, which are included in total expenditures. These programs and the 

extent to which they are funded by school districts vary greatly both across states and within 

states. 

NCES has made adjustments for missing data. Adjustments regarding current expenditures were 

made when a single value was reported for a combination of two or more items. NCES 

distributed portions of the single state reported value to the missing item(s). In most cases, these 

distribution adjustments did not affect total revenues or total expenditures. For more information 

on these adjustments, the reader should refer to the documentation for the National Public 

Education Financial Survey: Fiscal Year 2004, stfis041a data file at 

http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/stfis.asp. 

NCES accepts revisions to these data from state education agencies for 1 year, and releases the 

revised data at the end of that period. 

The number of prekindergarten students was imputed in California and Tennessee. As a result, 

total student counts for these states are flagged as imputed, and all expenditure per student 

figures for these states are flagged as imputed even if the expenditures are exactly as reported by 

the state. Student membership data came from the CCD State Nonfiscal Survey, st031b data file. 

School District Finance Survey 

The “School District Finance Survey (F-33)” is an annual local education agency-level collection 

of revenue and expenditure data for public education in grades prekindergarten, kindergarten, 1 

through 12, and ungraded. It is part of the Common Core of Data (CCD) collection of surveys of 

administrative records data relating to public elementary and secondary education. This survey is 

also part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s: “Annual Survey of Local Government Finances: School 

Systems” also known as the “F-33” survey. The Census Bureau acts as the collection agent for 

the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for this survey. 
12 

Local education agencies (LEAs) send revenue and expenditure data to their state education 

agency, which may review and edit the data before sending them on to the Census Bureau. 

NCES and the Census Bureau review and edit the data before they are published. These edits 

include the addition of NCES district identification codes and nonfiscal variables, as well as the 

resolution of inconsistent or unusual data in collaboration with state data coordinators. Every 

state and the District of Columbia reported data on all school districts with financial activity. 

Median expenditure per student data, and data for the school district at the 5th and 95th 

percentiles are shown in table 4. These percentile points were chosen to exclude any outlier data. 

The federal range ratio is used in this report as an indicator of the difference between districts 

with relatively high revenues (or expenditures) per student and districts with relatively low 

revenues (or expenditures) per student. As used by Berne and Stiefel (1984) and in previous 

NCES publications (Parish, Matsumoto, and Fowler 1995; Hussar and Sonnenberg 2000), the 

federal range ratio excludes the top and bottom 5 percent of districts in order to reduce the 

influence of extreme cases. It is the difference between the amount per student of the district at 

the 95th percentile and the district at the 5th percentile, divided by the amount for the district at 

the 5th percentile. 

There are many different types of LEAs. In addition to the types discussed earlier, there are 

districts whose only function is to collect and allocate funds, or to provide certain administrative 

services for a group of LEAs. Only regular education districts with student counts greater than 

zero were considered in the analyses resulting in table 4. 

In order to have comparable LEAs for analysis, those districts that did not have schools reporting 

students, or that were not recognized in the CCD “Local Education Agency Universe Survey,” 

were removed from consideration in table 4. School districts whose primary function was 

providing special education or vocational education services were also removed from 

consideration in table 4. Charter schools that are not affiliated with a school district were treated 

separately from regular districts. Furthermore, districts with current expenditures per student less 

than $2,500 or greater than $35,000 (32 districts, or 0.21 percent of all regular districts) were 

removed from table 4, because they are outliers representing extraordinary school districts. Thus, 

regular school districts with students, school districts with current expenditures per student 

greater than $2,500 and less than $35,000, and school districts that have at least one non-charter 

school were included in the national and state analyses in table 4. 

Independent charter schools are not affiliated with school districts. Data for these schools were 

reported separately at the bottom of table 4. To be included, these schools must have been in the 

CCD Local Education Agency Universe, have students, and report revenues and expenditures 

greater than zero. Some education agencies may be providing services to students who are 

counted in another agency. For some charter schools, only revenue data were reported. 

For more information on the School District Finance Survey: School Year 2003-04, sdf041a data 

file, please see the file documentation at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/f33agency.asp. 
13 

Appendix B: Definitions 

Current expenditures are those for the day-to-day operation of schools. They include 

expenditures for staff salaries and benefits, supplies and purchased services. Expenditures 

associated with repaying debts, capital outlays (e.g., purchases of land, school construction and 

repair, and equipment) are excluded from current expenditures. Programs outside the scope of 

preschool to grade 12, transfer payments, and expenditures for items lasting more than 1 year 

(e.g., school buses and computers) are not included in current expenditures. 

Instruction expenditures are for activities related to the interaction between teachers and 

students. Includes salaries and benefits for teachers and teacher aides, textbooks, supplies and 

purchased services. 

Instruction-related expenditures include expenditures for activities that assist with classroom 

instruction. Includes salaries and benefits for: librarians and library aides, in-service teacher 

trainers, curriculum development, student assessment, technology (for students but outside the 

classroom), and supplies and purchased services related to those professions. 

Student support services include expenditures for activities related to a student’s well-being. 

Includes salaries and benefits for: nurses, guidance counselors, social workers, speech 

pathologists, audiologists, attendance officers, and supplies and purchased services related to 

those professions. 

Administration expenditures include expenditures for school and school district administration. 

This includes the school principal’s office, the superintendent and board of education and their 

immediate staff, and other LEA (local education agency, or school district) staff and services 

except those listed in the other categories. This includes salaries and benefits for LEA 

planners/researchers, personnel, fiscal services, warehousing, and other activities of LEAs, along 

with the supplies and purchased services of these activities. 

Operations includes expenditures for the operation and maintenance of schools and school 

district facilities, and expenditures related to student transportation, food services, and enterprise 

operations. 

Regular school districts are public elementary and/or secondary school districts that provide 

instruction and other education services and that do not focus primarily on special education or 

vocational education. Education service agencies are also excluded from this category. 

Student membership is the count of students enrolled on or about October 1.