States That Spend The Most On Education: 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall Street: When it comes to education, money does not always equal success.

An in-depth analysis by 24/7 Wall St. found that states that spend loads of money on education don’t necessarily yield higher-achieving students than those that spend less more efficiently. The impact of federal aid is inconsistent at best. Oftentimes, the results disappoint educators, politicians and parents.

The U.S. spent $10,498.66 on each public school student in 2009, according to the U.S. Census. The figure is a high as $18,126 in New York and as low as $6,356 in Utah. Surprisingly, Utah’s high school graduation rate is higher than New York’s.

24/7 Wall St. reviewed Census data on the amount states spend per student on education including teacher salaries and compared it with information on metrics such as graduation rates and standardized test reported by The National Center for Education Statistics, part of the US Department of Education. We then ranked the top 10 and bottom 10 spenders.

It is difficult to draw any conclusions from the analysis because the relationship between results and expenditures is so irregular. Front pages in American papers often carry news about heated battles over education spending. Teachers’ unions argue that their members must be well-compensated to produce strong results. Education experts often make similar arguments about the need to pour more money into school districts. This 24/7 Wall St. analysis underscores the flawed logic in that reasoning.

Below is a list of the 10 states that spend the most on education. For the states that spend least, check out 24/7 Wall Street:

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10. Pennsylvania

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Total Elementary-Secondary Spending: $21.2 Billion (7th most) % Revenue From State Sources: 39% (8th least) Amount Spent Per Pupil: $12,511 (10th most) High School Graduation Rate: 80.5% (14th highest) In 2009, Pennsylvania spent just over $25 billion on education, which amounts to just over $12,500 per student. The state spends the tenth most per student on employee salaries, but spends the 21st most on benefits for employees. Governor Tom Corbett has proposed cutting the state's K-12 budget by more than $500 million and freezing the salaries of public school employees for a year. Pennsylvania's graduation rate of 80.5% is in the top fifth in the country, while the state scores the sixth-highest in reading and the 13th highest on math according to 2009 National Center For Education Statistics (NCES) test scores.

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Total Elementary-Secondary Spending: $21.2 Billion (7th most)
% Revenue From State Sources: 39% (8th least)
Amount Spent Per Pupil: $12,511 (10th most)
High School Graduation Rate: 80.5% (14th highest)

In 2009, Pennsylvania spent just over $25 billion on education, which amounts to just over $12,500 per student. The state spends the tenth most per student on employee salaries, but spends the 21st most on benefits for employees. Governor Tom Corbett has proposed cutting the state's K-12 budget by more than $500 million and freezing the salaries of public school employees for a year. Pennsylvania's graduation rate of 80.5% is in the top fifth in the country, while the state scores the sixth-highest in reading and the 13th highest on math according to 2009 National Center For Education Statistics (NCES) test scores.

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Comments

[John Kopczak]

10:52 AM on 06/10/2011

The most obvious part of this "twisted picture of educational spending and graduation rates" is the weiner syndrome -- 51% of his district doesn't feel he's done anything wrong -- multiply this same "ethical viewpoint" to all of our states and you have the answer -- sensationalism not education wins the day...

[mataylor16]

02:31 PM on 06/09/2011

The real problem is not money, that is a problem, but that we have a generation of people who are put in the position of being parents and or funders of the public education system who have grown up believing that they are practicing the highest level of moral rectitude by not giving a damn about anybody but themselves and their meager bank accounts, and that the highest calling of man is to drive shareholder value. The younger generation can go ahead and figure it out for themselves. From this cultural view, is it any wonder that no matter what amount is spent, the results keep getting worse?

[John Kopczak]

11:08 AM on 06/10/2011

I disagree that the "evil shareholder value" is the reason behind poor moral rectitude. Try walking around a campus -- the kids haven't changed much other than more electronic devices and popular idols like Lady Whomever...Dad and Mom need to look at the direction we are going AND STOP "their sheep" from following the Pied Piper of GROUP THINK...When someone as straight forward and clear thinking as Sarah Palin is condemed by a major portion of "the people" because she doesn't operate in the cesspool of politics you know our kids are confused -- it only gets worse when we review OUR respect for ourselves and OUR WASHINGTON DC yet pour millions into the rat holes of political thinking and "follow the leader"...

[mataylor16]

09:59 PM on 06/10/2011

You dont know what you're talking about. Plain and simple.

[miltonc4l]

12:54 PM on 06/09/2011

"The impact of federal aid is inconsistent at best."

Yeah, let's allow the Federal government to take our money for the purpose of "education" when AT BEST, the results are going to be "inconsistent". LOL

Abolish the Department of Education. Take the entire budget for the next fiscal year and refund it to the states as a one time cash payment. Remove it from the budget entirely for the following fiscal year. Repeal ALL (education related) Federal mandates that have been imposed on states and communities.

It will reduce the deficit and improve education at the same time.

[libwithaclue]

05:44 PM on 06/05/2011

What, no southern states? well, what a surprise....... I could have easily guessed that, because those neo-confederates like to keep their constituents dump and backwards thinking.

[Billzapoppin]

03:25 PM on 06/08/2011

Per pupil spending seems like a solid yardstick, but unless it's indexed to one state's cost of living, it's pretty meaningless. The cost of living in the Northeast is generally higher than most of the rest of the country. The cost of living is also high in Alaska, thus its inclusion in the top 10 per-pupil spending. A lot of western and midwestern states get very good graduation rates with far more modest spending, the cost of living is much, much lower than in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Alaska, etc.

[Matt Norman]

06:28 AM on 06/05/2011

Well obviously if New York is spending the most they must have the best schools and highest test scores

[CPA 4 Life]

12:34 AM on 06/07/2011

"To put this in perspective, the state's budget includes approximately $12,500 per pupil spent on teacher salaries and benefits."

More like the COLA necessary to entice any teacher to work in NYC is so high it drives education spending through the roof.

[ApprxAm]

11:50 AM on 06/10/2011

..scores....no..........but the janitors drive really nice cars.

[AcademicFreedom]

05:39 PM on 06/04/2011

And still, Chantiqua and LahMounte can't read.

[Protocolor]

07:25 AM on 06/07/2011

The only books Chantiqua and LahMounte have ever even see are in school, and those ones all have profanities scribbled in them and pages stuck together with chewing gum and other organic matter.

Chantiqua and LahMounte also live in a culture that does not value literacy and views education as an effort to tame or constrain their feral freedom.

The barriers to literacy are many and varied for Chantiqua and LahMounte.

[Aikaterina]

12:54 PM on 06/04/2011

Salaries of teachers does drive the cost of education, but the cost of living varies wildly. A 2-bedroom apartment (in a middle-working class neighborhood) in the Bay Area averages $2,000, while in Little Rock or Colorado Springs it's $750.

Many politicians deman educators, but forget educators must have state credentials (taking an average of 30 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate), and/or master's degrees (a minimum of 60 semester hours). Teacher contracts include pay for time spent in the classrooms, but NOT time for preparing lessons

[Skeptical Patriot]

11:06 AM on 06/04/2011

For the private sector, we focus entirely on outcomes. No one demands that Ipads cost more money or that we don't invest enough in our cars or a desire to compensate our doctors more money. Yet, for gov't the debate has always been around intake vs output. Do we invest enough in police, fire, education, medicaid, medicare, etc. It is high time that we shift the accountability of gov't to outcomes and reward politicians, managers, etc for delivering the best service for the least dollars not the other way around.

[Botany5000]

10:46 AM on 06/04/2011

As if just spending money indicates quality.

New Jersey is an obvious example of that not being true.

[Norm]

10:17 AM on 06/04/2011

These slides show amounts spent on education, not schools. Education is a broad category that includes adult education, etc. Some forms of adult education should be more appropriately under the Human Services banner but taxpayers would not be as willing to support programs so labeled.

[inmyhumbleopinion]

10:36 AM on 06/04/2011

Not true. Each slide specifically calls out Elementary and Secondary education, i.e. K-12. Most reports of per student spends for public school use K-12.

[Norm]

11:19 AM on 06/04/2011

Sorry, my computer cut the stats off. I would, however, rather see a graph where demographics are presented, because it only makes sense that some areas will pay more for less because of urban areas and/or poverty levels.

[Jerry Lammers]

10:10 AM on 06/04/2011

It's not a question of spending, but a question of effectiveness.

[dayzee10]

10:04 AM on 06/04/2011

Four of the six New England states in top ten,not bad, 2 states that aren't....Cow Hampshire and New Englands version of South Carolina....Maine

[emak]

07:38 AM on 06/04/2011

Very odd data, I thought the more you spend the better your results, hmmmm, not the case

Here is a great chart from the article http://247wallst.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/aweomse.jpg

Nice to see NJ is #2 in spending per student, you would have never known with all the protests from the union when compensation was thrown on the table in the middle of the recession.

[MarineDoc]

07:41 AM on 06/04/2011

Can one infer #2 in spending per student is to be interpreted as #2 in spending on teachers?

[emak]

07:48 AM on 06/04/2011

Nice.

Were actually #5, we can aim higher if we all just try LOL
http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary-new-jersey.html

I mean at $61K (average some lower and some higher) how can anyone live. I mean just think of the awful situation with 2 teacher that are married and have to carry the burden of earning on average $122K and then in just a few days have to be home all summer until September.

Yes we can do more.

[grf67]

05:22 AM on 06/04/2011

This explains a lot; there are not many red states on the list. It is no wonder that repubs do not value education.

[Protocolor]

07:30 AM on 06/07/2011

Yeah, you don't need smarts to be a Republican. Just the opposite, in fact.

[inmyhumbleopinion]

07:14 PM on 06/03/2011

Wait a minute. You're using UTAH as the example of low spending vs. high grad rates? A state that is probably one of the most middle class and ethnically homogeneous in the nation? A state that even with an 11% poverty rate is still way below that of other states in the country with bigger metropolitan areas? http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/the-poorest-states-of-america/

Get real. The average per student spend includes spending for special education and for English as a Second Language learners. Utah can spend less because 90% of their population is white and English speaking and don't need to spend extra resources on getting kids to a basic level of English proficiency.

[MFMG]

10:19 AM on 06/04/2011

Not to mention that there is a lot of " home schooling" that goes on especially with the Christian Right.

[jdevans]

04:28 PM on 06/05/2011

Here's a scary thought. Michele Bachmann homeschooled her 5 kids.