ALBANY—Updated data on school spending and performance in New York
State, compiled by The Business Council's research affiliate, show that
New York spends more than any other state on schools on a per-pupil basis.
The updated data were compiled by the Public Policy Institute, The Business Council's research affiliate, and posted today to at www.ppinys.org as part of its Just the Facts compendium of data.
The data show that:
- New York spent more per pupil than any other state in the 2004-2005
school year, the latest year for which data are available. New York
spent $14,119 per pupil that year, 62 percent above the national average
of $8,701 per pupil.
- New York's per pupil spending on instructional salaries and wages
was also the highest in the nation that year. The state spent $6,508
on salaries and wages, 77 percent above the national average. Per-pupil
spending on instructional employee benefits was also the highest in
the nation at $2,457. That number was 116 percent above the national
average that year.
- Per-pupil revenue in New York was also among the highest in the country.
The Empire State's per-pupil revenue in 2004-2005 was $15,791—the
second highest in the nation and 55 percent above the national average.
The updated data also show that New York schools receive above-average
funding from federal and state sources as well as local taxes.
- Per-pupil funding from state sources in 2004-2005 was $6,930, 45 percent
above the national average and the sixth highest amount in the nation.
- Per-pupil funding from federal sources in the same year was $1,139,
the 10th highest in the nation and 23 percent above the national average.
- Local per-pupil funding in New York was the third-highest in the nation
at $7,722, and 73 percent above the national average.
The higher-than-average support from federal and state sources belies the idea often advanced by pro-tax advocates show promote the notion that local taxes in New York are high because state and federal funding for schools is low.
The new tables also show that:
- Eighty-five percent of New Yorkers aged 25 and over had a high school
diploma in 2006, slightly below the national average. During the same
year, 32 percent of New Yorkers had a bachelor's degree or higher, the
ninth highest in the nation.
- New York's per-capita state spending on higher education in 2004-2005
was $488.17—21 percent below the national average and the 45th
lowest in the nation.
All tables in Just the Facts are available at www.ppinys.org/reports/JustTheFacts.html.
-30-