The Census Bureau has just released its annual Public Education Finances report. It finds:

The nation's elementary-secondary public school systems spent an average of $10,615 per pupil in fiscal year 2010, up 1.1 percent from the previous year…District of Columbia public schools spent $18,667 per student in 2010, which is the most of any state or state equivalent. States that spent the most per pupil were New York ($18,618), New Jersey ($16,841), Alaska ($15,783), Vermont ($15,274) and Wyoming ($15,169). … Of the 50 largest school systems by enrollment in the U.S., New York City School District ($19,597), Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland ($15,582), Baltimore City Public Schools in Maryland ($14,711), Milwaukee Public School in Wisconsin ($14,038) and Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland ($14,019) had the highest per pupil spending in 2010.

Other findings include:

  • Public school systems received $593.7 billion in funding, up 0.5 percent from the prior year.

 

  • Total expenditures were $602.6 billion, a 0.4 percent decrease from 2009.

 

  • Revenue from state sources decreased by $18.0 billion, a 6.5 percent decrease from 2009—the largest annual decrease in state funding since 1977.

 

  • Meanwhile, federal revenue increased by $18.1 billion, a 32.5 percent increase from 2009 and the largest increase in federal funding for public school systems since 1977.

 

  • Instructional expenditures accounted for the largest spending category, totaling $317.8 billion, of which $211.1 billion (66.4 percent) went to instructional salaries and wages.