The U.S. Census Bureau says that North Carolina ranks 44th in per pupil spending. What does this mean? Not much. Spending more money does not necessarily yield better results. The awful D.C. Public Schools ranked third, spending over $14,300 per student.
Many factors play a role in determining per pupil expenditures. For example, small states, states with declining student enrollment, states with high cost of living, and states with union bullies usually have high per pupil expenditures.