Yesterday, the Census Bureau released the Annual Survey of Local Government Finances. Here are the highlights for education finance:
– NC ranks 39th in per-pupil spending and 42nd in revenue. Of course, the figures are not adjusted for cost of living, so the usual suspects (DC, NJ, NY, CT, VT, and MA) are ranked at the top in K-12 revenue and spending.
– Our state contribution is ranked 23rd in the nation, federal contribution is 33rd, and local contribution to education is ranked 41st. This merely reflects how funds are collected and distributed for education.
– NC ranks 32nd in salaries, 48th in benefits, and 38th in general administration spending. Again, this is not adjusted for cost of living, although we can expect that the teachers unions will use these figures to argue that NC teachers are underpaid.
– NC ranks 14th in capital outlay and 17th in indebtedness for schools. We are building and renovating many schools and we have the debt to go with it.
Overall revenue and spending is up. According to the report, public elementary and secondary education received $462.7 billion from federal, state and local sources in 2004, up 5.1 percent from 2003. Public school systems spent $472.3 billion, up 4.1 percent from 2003.
