Articles

(September 2003) It’s not your imagination. The cost of public education in Pennsylvania has been rising. Education costs increased 53% - or 42.8% per pupil when enrollment increases are factored into the equation - from 1992 through 2001. That compares to a 10-year inflation rate of 26.2%. This table helps tell the story.

IssuesPA investigated these increasing costs, using data published by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (www.pde.state.pa.us)

What are the numbers?

In 2000-2001 Pennsylvania school districts spent more than $16 billion for K-12 education for approximately 1.8 million students throughout Pennsylvania. On average, that’s $9,021 per student. Ten years earlier, the numbers were $10.6 billion for approximately 1.7 million students - or $6,317 per student.

Education costs are shared among local, state and federal sources, with local revenues - primarily property taxes - comprising roughly 58%. State government revenues pay about 37%, and federal government revenues pay most of the remainder. Locally raised funds for education grew at a far faster rate than state funds for education in the past 10 years.

To put this into a national context, Pennsylvania, on average, spends more per student than many of its peer states, and in 2001 spent 13% more than the United States average. (See Scorecard: Basic Education Spending Per Pupil, 2001)

Where does the money go?

Pennsylvania’s school districts spend most of their money on instruction costs, including teacher salaries and benefits, books and supplies - in other words, activities and materials directly related to the interaction between students and teachers. In total, instruction costs for the 2000-2001 school year were about $9.5 billion - or 58.4% of overall education spending. From 1991-92 to 2000-01, instruction costs increased $3.1 billion or 51%.

Instruction costs can be divided into several categories. These figures pertain to the 2000-01 school year.

• Regular instruction programs for students K-12 cost $6.8 billion - 41.6% of overall education spending.
• Special education programs cost $1.6 billion - or 10.1% of overall education spending. School districts provide them to all school-aged children with special needs - students who are gifted and talented, mentally retarded, physically handicapped, emotionally disturbed, and culturally different, as well as those with learning disabilities and bilingual students.
• Other programs. These include vocational education programs, driver’s education, summer school or alternative education programs, adult education and community college support. They cost $1.1 billion - or 6.7% of overall spending.

The second largest spending category is support services, those not closely related to instruction but directly support education programs. Examples are building operation and maintenance, administrative functions, student transportation, and support staff. These support services cost $4.8 billion - or 29.8% of overall spending. From 1991-92 to 2000-01, support service costs rose $1.6 billion or 49%.

An additional $2 billion in 2000-01 was spent on a variety of non-instruction services to students, staff and the community. From 1991-92 to 2000-01, these costs increased by almost $839 million or 78%.

How’s the money spent?

Since public education is a people-intensive industry, the majority of spending goes for salaries and benefits of school employees. In 1998-1999, school districts spent $9.7 billion or 69% on salaries and benefits for teachers and staff.

Materials and equipment consumed $3.5 billion or almost 25% of total spending. School districts spent another $0.9 billion on a variety of other items such as property purchases, fees and dues, interest expenses, and debt retirement - comprising roughly 6% of spending. State government handled an additional $0.3 billion in local debt service.

The bottom line? Understanding how these funds are spent is an education itself on what expenses school districts encounter. It also reinforces an important fact: by far the largest portion of school district spending covers salaries and benefits of teaching staff and other employees.