Essentials Magazine Essentials Spring 2019 | Page 11

Educational Funding
O
ur nation’s 100,000 schools are
the second largest U.S. infra-
structure investment, after
roads and bridges. Every weekday, 56
million children and adults — 1 in 6
of all Americans — set foot in a public
school. They provide our nation’s
children with a learning environment
essential to their achievement and to
the productivity of working parents
and guardians serving as anchors in
our communities.
Public School Funding Breakdown
States and school districts together
spent about $1 trillion (2014$) on school
construction capital outlay from fiscal year
1994 through 2013. The federal support for
school facilities was less than one percent
of this amount — mostly from FEMA to
rebuild public schools destroyed by natural
disasters. States provided widely varying
levels of funding. Twelve states contributed
no capital funding for local school district
facilities, but on average, states contributed
eighteen percent of school construction
capital outlay from FY1994-2013.
The local school districts carried the
lion’s share for school construction capital
outlay and contributed an average of 82%
of the costs for school modernization,
renovation, major systems and component
renewals and new construction. This
compares to the annual operating expen-
ditures of school districts for FY14, where
9% of funds are from federal sources, 46%
are from state sources, and 45% are from
local sources.
There are over 15,000 school districts
responsible for public education across
the country and they jealously guard local
control of their public schools. Howev-
er, this organization of public education
finance for capital outlay leaves children
from low-wealth school districts and inac-
DISTRICTS NEED FACILITIES HELP Who Pays?
100%
80%
60% CAPITAL
40% OPERATING
20%
0
Local
State
Federal
Data sources:
U.S. Census of
Governments F-33
Fiscal Survey,
Table 235.2 Digest of
Education Statistics, NCES