Federal Per-Pupil Spending Map Gives Rundown for Each School and District

The United States Department of Education has launched an interactive map that shows how much money each school spends per student. So far, districts and schools in 20 states have been added to the map.

The idea, according to the agency, is to "radically increase transparency as parents and local leaders seek to understand funding levels and differences between schools." ESSA, the Every Student Succeeds Act, requires each state to provide the data on "per pupil expenditures" as part of its public "report card" for each education agency.

Agency Secretary Betsy DeVos suggested in a press release that because states provide the information "in different ways and places — some more transparently than others," it was up to the Department to make the state data "more easily accessible and searchable."

Map results provide a rundown on federal, state and local funds that make up the per-pupil expenditure (PPE) for each school and district starting with the 2018-2019 school year — the first year in which the data was required to be reported. The tool provides the map, individual state pages and downloadable Excel files.

Federal Per-Pupil Spending Map Gives Rundown for Each School and District

Users can search for individual districts and schools or filter by district, city, grade level and Title I status and do comparisons within individual states.

"Parents are increasingly attuned to how their schools are — or aren't — meeting their students' needs," said Secretary DeVos, in a statement. "They need tools to advocate for reforms, and good decision-making requires transparent, actionable information that, unfortunately, isn’t always easy to find. That’s why we've committed ourselves to fixing that. This new web tool clearly displays per pupil student funding at the building level so parents can see how their money is being spent on students. This is the level of transparency that states and districts should aspire to and that parents deserve."

The agency said that the tool would be updated as additional data became available.

The map is openly available on the Department's website for the Office of Elementary & Secondary Education.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • cloud icon with a padlock overlay set against a digital background featuring binary code and network nodes

    Cloud Security Auditing Tool Uses AI to Validate Providers' Security Assessments

    The Cloud Security Alliance has unveiled a new artificial intelligence-powered system that automates the validation of cloud service providers' (CSPs) security assessments, aiming to improve transparency and trust across the cloud computing landscape.

  • stack of gold coins disintegrates into digital particles against a dark circuit-board background with glowing AI imagery

    Report: Most Organizations See No Business Return on Gen AI Investments

    Despite $30-40 billion in enterprise spending on generative AI, 95% of organizations are seeing no business return, according to a recent report out of the MIT Media Lab.

  • stylized illustration of a desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone all displaying an orange AI icon

    Survey: AI Shifting from Cloud to PCs

    A recent Intel-commissioned report identifies a significant shift in AI adoption, moving away from the cloud and closer to the user. Businesses are increasingly turning to the specialized hardware of AI PCs, the survey found, recognizing their potential not just for productivity gains, but for revolutionizing IT efficiency, fortifying data security, and delivering a compelling return on investment by bringing AI capabilities directly to the edge.

  • student holding a smartphone with thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons, surrounded by abstract digital media symbols and interface elements

    Teaching Media Literacy? Start by Teaching Decision-Making

    Decision-making is a skill that must be developed — not assumed. Students need opportunities to learn the tools and practices of effective decision-making so they can apply what they know in meaningful, real-world contexts.