US Census Bureau: K-12 education spending up 9%, largest increase in two decades

The U.S. Census Bureau announced America’s K-12 education funding rose by 9% – the largest increase in more than 20 years.

In a Thursday press release, the Bureau revealed average per-pupil funding jumped from $14,358 in 2021 to $15,633 in 2022, an 8.9% increase.

States with the highest per-pupil spending averages are:

• New York ($29,873)

• District of Columbia ($27,425)  

• New Jersey ($25,099)  

• Vermont ($24,608)  

• Connecticut ($24,453) 

Other states, such as Utah, Idaho and Arizona, average $10,000 or less per student.  

Some individual districts spend far more: 

• New York City School District ($35,914)  

• Washington Schools in the District of Columbia ($27,425)  

• San Francisco Unified ($23,654)  

• Atlanta School District ($22,882)  

• Los Angeles Unified ($21,940) 

The total debt held by school districts also increased to nearly $544 billion in 2022.  

But despite the massive spending and debt increases, academics are still lagging.  

In some regions – such as California, Minnesota and D.C. – scores continued declining even after the pandemic, despite states adding billions to their education budgets.  

Now, policymakers and educators are looking for more meaningful reforms than simply dumping more dollars into public education. 

A recent poll in Alaska even found voters thought “changes and reforms to the education system” would be more helpful than increased funding. 

Popular ideas include creating or expanding family-led school choice programs, encouraging public charter school growth and improving literacy instruction through the science of reading.