For millions of Americans, yesterday was tax day. One of the major uses of those tax dollars is K-12 public education; in fact, Ohio spends approximately $20 billion per year on its public schools. Those funds are generated through state income and sales taxes, local property taxes, and to a small extent, federal taxes.
On a per-pupil basis, that amount equals an outlay of $13,000 per child. Chart 1 shows that spending has risen from $10,682 to $13,063 from 2000 to 2011—an increase of 22 percent—after adjusting for inflation. The chart also shows that Ohio’s per-pupil expenditures are slightly above the national average, and that the state’s spending trend has generally mirrored the national average.
Despite the murmurs of inadequacy from a few interest groups, the fact of the matter is that Ohioans generously fund its public schools and the students who attend them. Given this, the state’s public schools need to be good stewards of those tax dollars by demonstrating that tax payers’ hard-earned dollars are working to lift student achievement.
Chart 1: Ohio’s per-pupil (K-12) spending on the rise and above the national average – expenditures per pupil, 1999-00 to 2010-11
Source: U.S. Department of Education Note: There were no data reported for 2000-01. Expenditures exclude debt service (both principal and interest payments), Title I expenditures, and a few other expenditure categories or sources of revenue (e.g., textbook revenues, tuition payments). The inflation adjustment is to 2012-13 dollars using the national Consumer Price Index.
