Census Bureau releases public education spending for states

The Census Bureau has just released a new report on public education finances for 2008-2009. And, yes, you know what I'm going to say. Once again, Utah shows the lowest per pupil elementary/secondary school spending of any state in the nation. New York spends $18,800 per pupil; Utah spends only $6,400. Is this the travesty it may appear on the surface? No. Here are a few things to consider:

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What about performance?
Does spending more per pupil produce better results? This isn't easy question to answer. I'm not an educator and don't know the ins and outs of assessment data. However, I am a data geek. So, I tracked down information from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). NAEP bills itself as "the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas." You can access their information here.

• I looked at their 2007 writing report card for eighth grade. Utah's scores seem roughly equivalent to the national averages AND to scores for the highest-spending state--New York.
• NAEP science report card shows Utah eighth-grade students with better scores than the national average--and only five states displayed better numbers. What about high-spending New York? Their science scores were about average and were lower than 25 other states.
• The 2010 reading report card shows Utah with better than average eighth grade reading scores--lower than only 11 other states. New York's scores were also better than average, but not as good as Utah's figures.
• When it comes to mathematics, Utah eighth-graders also scored higher than the 2009 national average and lower than only 17 other states. New York also showed slightly better than average scores, but ranked lower than 21 other states.

Admittedly, this was a quick and dirty comparison prepared by a noneducator. However, it does point out that Utah seems to be educating its young people well on far less money than most other states.

Other factors?
Cost of living also comes into play when comparing spending figures. . .in general, real estate, wages, capital expenditures are all more expensive on the East and West Coasts than they are in Utah. Interestingly, the next two low-per-pupil-spending states are our neighbors--Idaho and Arizona.

In addition, remember that Utah is the youngest state in the nation. We just have a lot of kids to educate. In fact, the Census Report indicates that Utah has the highest share of its population (19 percent) enrolled in public elementary/secondary education of any state in the nation. We support the education more kids with fewer income-earning adults. In New York, less than 14 percent of the population is enrolled in public education.

Finally, comparing public education to income reveals Utah spends $24 per $1,000 of total personal income--somewhat below average, but not dramatically so.

To access the full report, click here.