Public elementary and secondary education revenues from federal, state and local sources reached $440.3 billion in the United States in 2003, up 4.9 percent from the previous year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. Again, the District of Columbia spent the most money per student on this level of education ($13,328) of any state or state equivalent.

     These findings from the 2003 Annual Survey of Local Government Finances - School Systems show that following the District of Columbia in per-student expenditures were New Jersey ($12,202), New York ($12,140), Connecticut ($10,372) and Vermont ($10,322). Utah spent the lowest amount ($4,860) of any state or state equivalent. Next to Utah, the lowest averages per pupil were in Arizona ($5,672), Mississippi ($5,816), Idaho ($6,034) and Nevada ($6,084). The national average was $8,019.

     State governments contributed the greatest share of public elementary and secondary school funding, $215.6 billion. Local sources followed at $188.0 billion, and the federal government was the third largest contributor at $36.8 billion.

     Other findings:

• Public school systems spent $453.6 billion, up 4.2 percent from 2002. About $236.0 billion was spent on elementary-secondary instruction, $132.9 billion on services that support elementary-secondary instruction, $50.5 billion on capital outlay and $34.1 billion on other items.
• School districts received $163.6 billion, or 37.2 percent of all revenues, from local taxes and local government appropriations.
• Instructional salaries totaled $166.9 billion in 2003, up 3.9 percent. The tabulations contain data on revenues, expenditures, debt and assets for all individual public elementary and secondary school systems.

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The data are not subject to sampling error, but are subject to possible error from miscoding and misidentification of schools.