Florida among states that spends the least per student, Washington, D.C. spends most

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Posted: 06/22/2012

By: By Jamie Gumbrecht CNN

Public school systems spent an average of $10,615 per student in 2010, an increase of 1.1% from the previous year, according to Public Education Finances: 2010, a U.S. Census Bureau report released today.

Washington, D.C., schools topped per-pupil spending at $18,667; Utah was lowest, at $6,064. Public schools systems spent $602.6 billion in 2010, a 0.4% decrease since 2009 - the first time the spending level has gone down since the Census Bureau began to keep track.

Although the amount spent per student has steadily crept up in recent decades, it can vary widely based on cost of living and operating. Of the 50 largest school systems, New York City School District spent the most per student in 2010 at $19,597.

Make no mistake: Spending a lot of money doesn't mean a kid is getting a good education, and spending less doesn't mean it's bad. Per-pupil spending comes up often because it's among the few easy-to-compare measurements that crosses school, district and state lines, said Matthew Chingos, a researcher with Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy.

"Per-pupil funding is a pretty terrible measure of quality of education," Chingos said. "In some case, it matters, but sometimes it's hard to find evidence it matters."

No measure is perfect, Chingos said; parents considering where to live would be better off to gauge how much is going into education, and what the outcomes are - per-pupil spending data, info about how well students do on tests, how they're improving, how many graduate or go to college, for example.

"You should think about productivity -- return on taxpayer investment," Chingos said.

What per-pupil funding can do: Make taxpayers understand how much it costs to educate a child in their area. They'll be able to see if it's similar across districts nearby, Chingos said, and seek better answers about how money is spent.

Here are the places that spend the most and least on each student:

Highest per-pupil spending

Washington, D.C. - $18,667

New York - $18,618

New Jersey - $16,841

Alaska - $15,783

Vermont - $15,274

Wyoming - $15,169

Connecticut - $14,906

Massachusetts - $14,350

Maryland - $13,738

Rhode Island - $13,699