Per Pupil Spending Trends

  • Description:

    Ten-year trends in inflation-adjusted per pupil spending for all 115 North Carolina school districts. Child nutrition and capital outlays are exlcuded to provide an apples-to-apples comparison across districts. 

    Key Takeaways:

    State per pupil spending for DPS remains 6% below pre-recession levels. Most of the dramatic recession-induced cuts in state support for K-12 education were never reinstated after the economy recovered. 

    Federal spending spiked during the recession due to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and as of 2018 slighly eclipsed inflation-adjusted pre-recession levels.

    Local per pupil expenditures are primarily supported by Durham County Appropriations which are currently 2.6% below 2008-09 inflation-adjusted levels, but also include various other local revenues, fund balance appropriations, fines and foreitures, and city revenue for the Holten Career & Resource Center.