D.C. tops per pupil expenditures while test scores remain flat

The District of Columbia public schools spent $18,667 per student in 2010, which is the most of any state or state equivalent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The nation’s elementary-secondary public school systems spent an average of $10,615 per pupil in fiscal year 2010, up 1.1 percent from the previous year.

According to the Washington Post, school officials said "elementary test scores in the D.C. public schools remained essentially flat" in 2011 after falling in 2010," and "40 percent of the city’s 75,000 public school students" are now enrolled in public charter schools.

States that spent the most per pupil were New York ($18,618), New Jersey ($16,841), Alaska ($15,783), Vermont ($15,274) and Wyoming ($15,169).

States that spent the least per pupil were Utah ($6,064), Idaho ($7,106), Arizona ($7,848) and Oklahoma ($7,896).

Of the 50 largest school systems by enrollment in the U.S., New York City School District ($19,597), Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland ($15,582), Baltimore City Public Schools in Maryland ($14,711), Milwaukee Public School in Wisconsin ($14,038) and Prince George’s County Public Schools in Maryland ($14,019) had the highest per pupil spending in 2010.

To learn more about public school financing in the U.S., go to http://www.census.gov/govs/school/.