Federal, State, and Local K-12 School Finance Overview America spends over $500 billion a year on
public elementary and secondary education in the United States. On average, school districts spend
$10,314 for each individual student, although per pupil expenditures vary greatly among states, school
districts and individual schools. Spending also differs among school districts in the same state and among
schools within the same district. All three levels of government – federal, state, and local – contribute to
education funding
. States typically provide a little less than half of all
elementary and secondary education funding. Local governments
generally contribute about 44 percent of the total, and the federal
government contributes about 13 percent of all direct expenditures
.
The share of education funding that federal, state, and local governments provide has changed
significantly over time
. Historically, elementary and secondary education was
funded largely by local governments and states played only a
supporting role. Today, states play a large and increasing role in
education funding, a trend that emerged in the 1970’s when state
spending first overtook education spending by local governments.
Federal funding has always been minor with respect to total direct
elementary and secondary education spending, though the federal
government’s role in education funding has slowly increased, along
with the role of the federal government in education policy.
Federal
Funding
The federal government spends more than $40 billion annually
on primary and secondary education programs. Much of the funding is
discretionary, meaning it is set annually by Congress through the
appropriations process. Funds flow mainly through the Department of
Education although other federal agencies administer some funding
for education related activities
. Through the U.S. Department of Education, the federal
government provides more than $40 billion a year on primary and secondary education programs. The
two biggest programs are No Child Left Behind Title I Grants to local school districts ($13.7 billion in fiscal
year 2013) and IDEA Special Education State Grants ($11.0 billion in fiscal year 2013). Other federal
agencies that administer funding for primary and secondary education include the Department of
Agriculture, which coordinates the funding for the child nutrition programs ($20.4 in fiscal year 2013),
the Department of Health and Human Services, which supports the Head Start program ($8.0 million in
fiscal year 2013) and the Department of Labor, which supports Youth Employment and Training Activities
and Youthbuild ($0.9 billion in fiscal year 2013). Federal education funding is distributed to states and
school districts though a variety of formula and competitive grant programs. While the federal
government contributes about 13 percent of direct funding for elementary and secondary schools
nationally, the amount varies considerably from state to state. In some states the federal share of total
