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Digest of Education Statistics
2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 236.10. Summary of expenditures for public elementary and secondary education and other related programs, by purpose: Selected years, 1919-20 through 2015-16
School year Total expenditures Current expenditures for public elementary and secondary education Current expenditures for other programs1 Capital outlay2 Interest on school debt
Total Admini- stration Instruction Plant operation Plant main- tenance Fixed charges Other school services3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
  Amounts in thousands of current dollars
1919-20 $1,036,151 $861,120 $36,752   $632,556   $115,707   $30,432 $9,286 $36,387   $3,277 $153,543 $18,212
1929-30 2,316,790 1,843,552 78,680   1,317,727   216,072   78,810 50,270 101,993   9,825 370,878 92,536
1939-40 2,344,049 1,941,799 91,571   1,403,285   194,365   73,321 50,116 129,141   13,367 257,974 130,909
1949-50 5,837,643 4,687,274 220,050   3,112,340   427,587   214,164 261,469 451,663   35,614 1,014,176 100,578
1959-60 15,613,254 12,329,388 528,408   8,350,738   1,085,036   422,586 909,323 1,033,297   132,566 2,661,786 489,514
                               
1969-70 40,683,429 34,217,773 1,606,646   23,270,158   2,537,257   974,941 3,266,920 2,561,856   635,803 4,659,072 1,170,782
1979-80 95,961,561 86,984,142 4,263,757   53,257,937   9,744,785   (4 ) 11,793,934 7,923,729   597,585 6,506,167 1,873,666
1989-90 212,769,564 188,229,359 16,346,991 5 113,550,405 5 20,261,415 5 (4 ) 38,070,548 5 2,982,543 17,781,342 3,776,321
1999-2000 381,838,155 323,888,508 25,079,298 5 199,968,138 5 31,190,295 5 (4 ) 67,650,776 5 5,457,015 43,357,186 9,135,445
2000-01 410,811,185 348,360,841 26,689,182 5 214,333,003 5 34,034,158 5 (4 ) 73,304,498 5 6,063,700 46,220,704 10,165,940
                               
2005-06 528,268,772 449,131,342 34,197,083 5 273,760,798 5 44,313,835 5 (4 ) 96,859,626 5 7,415,575 57,375,299 14,346,556
2006-07 562,194,807 476,814,206 36,213,814 5 290,678,482 5 46,828,916 5 (4 ) 103,092,995 5 7,804,253 62,863,465 14,712,882
2007-08 597,313,726 506,884,219 38,203,341 5 308,238,664 5 49,362,661 5 (4 ) 111,079,554 5 8,307,720 66,426,299 15,695,488
2008-09 610,326,007 518,922,842 38,811,325 5 316,075,710 5 50,559,027 5 (4 ) 113,476,779 5 8,463,793 65,890,367 17,049,004
2009-10 607,018,292 524,715,242 38,972,700 5 321,213,401 5 50,023,919 5 (4 ) 114,505,223 5 8,355,761 56,714,992 17,232,297
                               
2010-11 604,355,852 527,291,339 39,154,833 5 322,536,983 5 50,214,709 5 (4 ) 115,384,813 5 8,161,474 50,968,815 17,934,224
2011-12 601,993,584 527,207,246 39,491,926 5 320,994,474 5 49,834,165 5 (4 ) 116,886,681 5 8,188,640 48,793,436 17,804,262
2012-13 606,813,352 535,795,823 40,349,598 5 325,682,380 5 50,674,499 5 (4 ) 119,089,346 5 8,031,416 45,720,570 17,265,542
2013-14 625,018,277 553,501,209 41,538,042 5 336,426,927 5 53,051,141 5 (4 ) 122,485,100 5 7,926,285 46,438,323 17,152,459
2014-15 651,135,383 575,331,825 43,328,198 5 349,453,258 5 54,200,172 5 (4 ) 128,350,197 5 7,713,966 50,610,125 17,479,466
2015-16 677,541,010 596,135,643 45,247,664 5 363,047,760 5 55,045,308 5 (4 ) 132,794,911 5 7,913,839 55,989,047 17,502,481
  Amounts in thousands of constant 2017-18 dollars6
1919-20 $13,490,188 $11,211,369 $478,493   $8,235,575   $1,506,450   $396,210 $120,899 $473,741   $42,665 $1,999,056 $237,111
1929-30 33,583,913 26,723,911 1,140,536   19,101,614   3,132,154   1,142,420 728,708 1,478,478   142,422 5,376,203 1,341,391
1939-40 41,618,569 34,476,624 1,625,842   24,915,313   3,450,949   1,301,814 889,809 2,292,897   237,331 4,580,326 2,324,288
1949-50 61,160,791 49,108,403 2,305,457   32,607,882   4,479,815   2,243,789 2,739,402 4,732,058   373,127 10,625,488 1,053,752
1959-60 131,846,791 104,116,044 4,462,164   70,518,164   9,162,633   3,568,546 7,678,817 8,725,721   1,119,459 22,477,566 4,133,722
                               
1969-70 267,230,086 224,760,301 10,553,293   152,850,595   16,666,034   6,403,924 21,458,843 16,827,613   4,176,287 30,603,227 7,690,310
1979-80 306,706,662 278,013,567 13,627,568   170,219,866   31,145,705   (4 ) 37,695,074 25,325,354   1,909,966 20,794,626 5,988,500
1989-90 415,779,963 367,825,146 31,944,190 5 221,892,560 5 39,593,494 5 (4 ) 74,394,903 5 5,828,285 34,747,102 7,379,432
1999-2000 559,648,264 474,713,276 36,757,944 5 293,087,058 5 45,714,641 5 (4 ) 99,153,631 5 7,998,177 63,547,275 13,389,537
2000-01 582,167,867 493,668,371 37,821,716 5 303,735,126 5 48,230,414 5 (4 ) 103,881,113 5 8,592,978 65,500,185 14,406,334
                               
2005-06 658,705,965 560,028,360 42,640,837 5 341,356,295 5 55,255,561 5 (4 ) 120,775,667 5 9,246,588 71,542,089 17,888,928
2006-07 683,337,490 579,558,934 44,017,228 5 353,314,370 5 56,919,689 5 (4 ) 125,307,647 5 9,485,927 76,409,390 17,883,239
2007-08 700,083,445 594,095,255 44,776,347 5 361,272,102 5 57,855,663 5 (4 ) 130,191,143 5 9,737,089 77,855,154 18,395,947
2008-09 705,483,843 599,829,724 44,862,520 5 365,356,062 5 58,441,844 5 (4 ) 131,169,298 5 9,783,410 76,163,540 19,707,168
2009-10 694,936,308 600,712,825 44,617,344 5 367,736,619 5 57,269,176 5 (4 ) 131,089,686 5 9,565,975 64,929,356 19,728,152
                               
2010-11 678,268,736 591,779,212 43,943,480 5 361,983,344 5 56,355,982 5 (4 ) 129,496,407 5 9,159,624 57,202,315 20,127,585
2011-12 656,385,033 574,841,584 43,060,109 5 349,997,034 5 54,336,791 5 (4 ) 127,447,651 5 8,928,501 53,202,031 19,412,917
2012-13 650,809,890 574,643,290 43,275,115 5 349,295,732 5 54,348,615 5 (4 ) 127,723,828 5 8,613,728 49,035,505 18,517,367
2013-14 660,024,365 584,501,762 43,864,509 5 355,269,561 5 56,022,434 5 (4 ) 129,345,258 5 8,370,222 49,039,246 18,113,135
2014-15 682,633,369 603,162,894 45,424,154 5 366,357,691 5 56,822,048 5 (4 ) 134,559,002 5 8,087,121 53,058,336 18,325,017
2015-16 705,558,501 620,786,882 47,118,733 5 378,060,412 5 57,321,527 5 (4 ) 138,286,210 5 8,241,090 58,304,291 18,226,238
  Percentage distribution
1919-20 100.0 83.1 3.5   61.0   11.2   2.9 0.9 3.5   0.3 14.8 1.8
1929-30 100.0 79.6 3.4   56.9   9.3   3.4 2.2 4.4   0.4 16.0 4.0
1939-40 100.0 82.8 3.9   59.9   8.3   3.1 2.1 5.5   0.6 11.0 5.6
1949-50 100.0 80.3 3.8   53.3   7.3   3.7 4.5 7.7   0.6 17.4 1.7
1959-60 100.0 79.0 3.4   53.5   6.9   2.7 5.8 6.6   0.8 17.0 3.1
                               
1969-70 100.0 84.1 3.9   57.2   6.2   2.4 8.0 6.3   1.6 11.5 2.9
1979-80 100.0 90.6 4.4   55.5   10.2   (4 ) 12.3 8.3   0.6 6.8 2.0
1989-90 100.0 88.5 7.7 5 53.4 5 9.5 5 (4 ) 17.9 5 1.4 8.4 1.8
1999-2000 100.0 84.8 6.6 5 52.4 5 8.2 5 (4 ) 17.7 5 1.4 11.4 2.4
2000-01 100.0 84.8 6.5 5 52.2 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 17.8 5 1.5 11.3 2.5
                               
2005-06 100.0 85.0 6.5 5 51.8 5 8.4 5 (4 ) 18.3 5 1.4 10.9 2.7
2006-07 100.0 84.8 6.4 5 51.7 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 18.3 5 1.4 11.2 2.6
2007-08 100.0 84.9 6.4 5 51.6 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 18.6 5 1.4 11.1 2.6
2008-09 100.0 85.0 6.4 5 51.8 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 18.6 5 1.4 10.8 2.8
2009-10 100.0 86.4 6.4 5 52.9 5 8.2 5 (4 ) 18.9 5 1.4 9.3 2.8
                               
2010-11 100.0 87.2 6.5 5 53.4 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 19.1 5 1.4 8.4 3.0
2011-12 100.0 87.6 6.6 5 53.3 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 19.4 5 1.4 8.1 3.0
2012-13 100.0 88.3 6.6 5 53.7 5 8.4 5 (4 ) 19.6 5 1.3 7.5 2.8
2013-14 100.0 88.6 6.6 5 53.8 5 8.5 5 (4 ) 19.6 5 1.3 7.4 2.7
2014-15 100.0 88.4 6.7 5 53.7 5 8.3 5 (4 ) 19.7 5 1.2 7.8 2.7
2015-16 100.0 88.0 6.7 5 53.6 5 8.1 5 (4 ) 19.6 5 1.2 8.3 2.6
—Not available.
1 Includes expenditures for summer schools, adult education, community colleges, and community services.
2 Prior to 1969-70, excludes capital outlay by state and local school housing authorities.
3 Prior to 1959-60, items included under "other school services" were listed under "auxiliary services," a more comprehensive classification that also included community services.
4 Plant operation also includes plant maintenance.
5 Data not comparable to figures prior to 1989-90.
6 Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Beginning in 1959-60, includes Alaska and Hawaii. Beginning in 1989-90, state administration expenditures were excluded from both "total" and "current" expenditures. Beginning in 1989-90, extensive changes were made in the data collection procedures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1959-60 and 1969-70; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, 1979-80; and Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2015-16. (This table was prepared September 2018.)

2018 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest