School funding in the spotlight

Utah once again ranked last in the nation in per-pupil spending in 2005, according to a report on public education finances released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The state Legislature increased funding for public education by $216.6 million this year, but that may not be enough to move Utah out of last place in the national rankings in coming years. Per-pupil spending is calculated at the end of each year, and the Utah Office of Education doesn't create spending projections, said Cathy Dudley, a budget specialist at the state office.

"I do hope this gets us above last place, but we'll see," Dudley said.

Education office public-relations specialist Mark Peterson is not optimistic.

"I think it's very, very, very unlikely," Peterson said.

He said it would take an additional increase of about $300 million for Utah to move out of last place. Moreover, some of the $216.6 million approved by the Legislature will go to teacher raises and will not be counted as per-pupil spending.

Utah spent $5,257 per student in 2005, nearly $1,000 less than Arizona, which ranked second-to-last, according to the report. Idaho, Mississippi and Oklahoma rounded out the bottom five. The 10 states with the lowest per-pupil spending were all in the West or the South.

New York led the nation in spending with $14,119 spent per student, followed by New Jersey, with $13,800. The District of Columbia, Vermont and Connecticut were also in the top five. Seven of the top 10 per-pupil spending states were in the Northeast.

The national average was $8,701 per student, up from $8,287 in 2004 — an increase of 5 percent.

Spending in the nation's public schools increased from $472 billion in 2004 to $497 billion in 2005. Of these expenditures, the largest portion — $258 billion — was spent on instruction. That was followed by $146 billion spent on support services, such as transportation and administration.

Of all money the nation's public schools received, 47 percent came from state governments, 44 percent came from local sources and 9 percent came from the federal government.

School construction spending amounted to $42 billion nationwide in 2005. Nearly one-third of that construction spending occurred in California and Texas, which spent a combined $13 billion.

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