New Yorkers' spending on public schools is second-highest in the country, according to new statistics published by the U.S. Census Bureau.
As of 2003-04, New York schools spent an average of $12,930 per pupil. That was 56 percent above the national average of $8,287, and virtually tied with New Jersey, which spent $12,981.
Per pupil spending in New York increased 7 percent between the 2002-03 school year and the 2003-04 school year. The national average was 3 percent.
The data also show that, despite criticism that the state does not contribute enough funding to schools, New York’s schools received $6,269 per pupil in revenue from state sources in 2003-04. That amount was 6th highest in the nation and 38 percent above the national average.
New York’s schools received 66 percent more revenue from local sources than the national average. Per-pupil revenue from local sources was $7,039, 66 percent above the national average, and the third highest in the country.
New York's spending on instructional salaries and benefits is far higher, on a per-pupil basis, than that in any other state -- 17 percent higher than second-place New Jersey, and 75 percent above the national average. If New York's average spending on instructional salaries and benefits were only as high as New Jersey's, taxpayers would save more than $3.7 billion.
The Census Bureau report is available at www.census.gov/govs/www/school04.html.
The table below shows per-pupil figures for current spending (not including capital expenditures), and the two major sources of school districts' revenues.
Per Pupil spending and revenue, 2003-04 Rank State Total per-pupil spending State revenue rank Per-pupil school revenue from state sources Local revenue rank Per-pupil revenue from local sources 1 NJ $12,981 4 $6,418 1 $8,058 2 NY $12,930 6 $6,269 3 $7,039 3 VT $11,128 1 $8,448 35 $2,970 4 CT $10,788 24 $4,514 2 $7,645 5 MA $10,693 16 $4,911 4 $6,611 6 DE $10,228 2 $7,417 30 $3,240 7 AK $10,114 8 $6,082 36 $2,851 8 PA $9,979 28 $4,082 5 $6,380 9 RI $9,903 21 $4,712 6 $6,089 10 ME $9,534 26 $4,332 10 $5,354 11 WY $9,363 9 $5,834 18 $4,250 12 WI $9,226 11 $5,410 17 $4,324 13 MD $9,212 32 $3,954 7 $5,866 14 MI $9,072 5 $6,341 33 $3,069 15 OH $8,963 23 $4,531 11 $5,080 16 NH $8,860 20 $4,762 12 $5,048 17 IL $8,656 42 $3,485 8 $5,499 18 HI $8,533 NA NA 19 WV $8,475 10 $5,514 38 $2,639 20 MN $8,359 3 $7,272 44 $2,303 21 IN $8,280 15 $5,016 14 $4,457 22 VA $8,225 41 $3,561 13 $5,004 23 NE $8,032 47 $3,069 9 $5,456 24 MT $7,763 36 $3,785 28 $3,446 25 CA $7,748 14 $5,080 31 $3,183 26 GA $7,733 27 $4,160 16 $4,333 27 ND $7,727 45 $3,307 21 $4,049 28 IA $7,631 30 $4,059 23 $4,000 29 OR $7,619 17 $4,855 27 $3,517 30 KS $7,518 19 $4,791 24 $3,805 31 CO $7,412 39 $3,747 19 $4,246 32 NM $7,331 7 $6,158 48 $1,157 33 MO $7,331 37 $3,777 20 $4,089 34 WA $7,243 13 $5,306 41 $2,548 35 LA $7,209 35 $3,799 34 $3,028 36 SC $7,184 33 $3,936 26 $3,728 37 TX $7,104 46 $3,094 15 $4,438 38 SD $6,949 49 $2,742 22 $4,032 39 KY $6,888 25 $4,471 43 $2,347 40 FL $6,784 40 $3,700 25 $3,799 41 AR $6,740 12 $5,360 49 $1,145 42 NC $6,702 22 $4,573 40 $2,566 43 AL $6,553 29 $4,068 42 $2,405 44 TN $6,504 48 $3,010 32 $3,164 45 NV $6,399 18 $4,802 39 $2,576 46 MS $6,237 34 $3,873 46 $2,138 47 OK $6,176 38 $3,772 37 $2,664 48 AZ $6,036 43 $3,411 29 $3,293 49 ID $6,028 31 $3,999 45 $2,172 50 UT $5,008 44 $3,395 47 $2,133 United States $8,287 $4,553 $4,244 NYS =/+ average 56% 38% 66% Source: The Census Bureau