ERIC Number: ED516801
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Oct-28
Pages: 29
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Where Has the Money Been Going? A Preliminary Update. EPI Briefing Paper #281
Alonso, Juan Diego; Rothstein, Richard
Economic Policy Institute
For two decades, researchers at the Economic Policy Institute have been tracking nine school districts, typical of districts nationwide, to understand how the spending levels and composition in elementary and secondary education have changed over time. The first report, "Where's the Money Gone?" (1995) tracked expenditures from 1967 to 1991. The second report, "Where's the Money Going?" (1997) carried the analysis forward to 1996. These reports concluded that conventional views of the rise of education spending are exaggerated because inflation in educational services is more rapid than inflation in the economy overall. When an appropriate education price deflator is applied, elementary and secondary school spending increases since 1967 have been substantial, but not as much so as commonly believed. The authors have now completed a new analysis that carries the data through 2005. They find that the trends identified in earlier reports have continued: real spending increases that are slower than conventionally believed when an appropriate price deflator is used, and a continued growth of special education as a share of total elementary and secondary expenditures. Publication of the full report, covering changes in the level and composition of spending from 1967 to 2005, is forthcoming. Until that time, to assist researchers and policy makers, this briefing paper contains the data tables that will eventually appear in that full report. (Contains 40 tables.)
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Public Education, Educational Finance, Resource Allocation, Special Education, Expenditure per Student, Time Perspective, Tables (Data)
Economic Policy Institute. 1333 H Street NW Suite 300 East Tower, Washington, DC 20005. Tel: 202-775-8810; Fax: 202-775-0819; e-mail: publications@epi.org. Web site: http://www.epi.org/shop
Publication Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: Researchers; Policymakers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Economic Policy Institute
Identifiers - Location: California; Colorado; Iowa; Louisiana; Maryland; Massachusetts; New York; Tennessee; Texas
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A