5 Facts About Education Funding

Jami Lund
April 11, 2014

Few people have the time to comb through all the sources and data on the state’s education funding. Yet the information is valuable for parents and taxpayers who care about how funding is allocated. School Directors and lawmakers also benefit from understanding this data.

For each of these five facts, you can link to the sources as well as specific financial data for individual districts.

1. Statewide average state, local and federal operating funds per pupil, 2012-2013

Fund Source	2011-12	2012-13
Local Taxes (levies)	$1,935	$2,014
Local Non-tax	$331	$335
State General Apportionment (specified staff per 1,000 students and payroll)	$5,320	$5,348
State Special Purpose (special education, English language learning, poverty)	$1,202	$1,235
Federal General purpose	$54	$52
Federal Special purpose (poverty, special education)	$885	$837
Other	$88	$99
Total ($9,760 in 2010-2011 and $9,754 in 2009-2010)	$9,816	$9,920

Source:

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, School Apportionment & Financial Services, Percent and Per Pupil of General Fund Revenues and Other Financing Sources by County, Fiscal Year 12012-13.

2. Funding per pupil from all funds, both operating and capital

Year	Total
09-10	$12,597
10-11	$12,812
11-12	$13,098
12-13	$13,740

Source:

Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, School Apportionment & Financial Services Financial Reporting Summary 2012-2013, Table Eight

3. Average Statewide Compensation

Certificated Instructional Employees	2011-12	2012-13
Average state-paid certificated instructional employee salary per FTE	$52,260	$52,256
Levy-funded additional salary per FTE	$11,978	$12,402
Insurance benefits per FTE (health benefits $768 per month)	$9,522	$9,522
Mandatory benefits (social security, etc.)	$9,608	$9,763
Total average compensation package (not including mandatory benefits)	$73,760	$74,180
Administrators
State actual allocation by district 2012-2015		here
Average wage, benefits, additional salary per individual	here	here
Classified Employees
State actual allocation by district 2-12-2015		here
Average wage, benefits, additional salary per individual		here

Sources:

School District Personnel Summary Reports 2012-2013, Table Nineteen.
Organizing and Financing of Washington Public Schools 2013, Pg. 68.
School District Expenditures of Levy and Levy Equalization Resources Amounts and Purposes for the 2008-09 School Year, Slide 30, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction K-12 Financial Resources.
”How Much TRI Pay Can All Basic Education Teachers Earn?”, Technical Advisory Committee to the Joint Task Force on Basic Education Finance, July 21, 2008.
Actual school employee salaries 2012-2013, including both state-funded wages and levy-funded wage enhancements as reported by OSPI.

4. Staff-per-Student Ratios Statewide

	2011-12	2012-13
Students per teacher	18.65	18.52
Students per aide	98.91	99.10

Source:

OSPI, School Apportionment & Financial Services, School District, Personnel Summary Profiles 2021–2013 – Final (ratios for each district)

5. Local School Levies

	2012	2013
Statewide average excess general fund (operating) levy rate per $1,000 for schools (increased from $2.35 the prior year)	$2.54	$2.74
Statewide total levy (general, debt service, transportation & capital) rate per $1,000 assessed value	$4.12	$4.44
Statewide average excess general fund levy funds per student (increased from $1,949 the prior year)	$2,014	$2,089

Source:

Previous years:

10-11
11-12

Other Resources:

Score, graduation rates and demographic data for each district and school
State Accountability Index listing districts’ scores on key factors
Persistently lowest achieving school lists, 2012-2013
Student enrollment trends by district 2008-2009 through 2011-2012
Collective Bargaining Agreements for many schools
Which WA districts get the best results for the least funds? Select “Washington” and see at the Center for American Progress website regarding Return on Educational Investment

- Education

Jami Lund

Senior Policy Analyst

Jami Lund is the Freedom Foundation’s Senior Policy Analyst. From 2004 to 2011, he developed legislative policy as a research analyst for the Washington House Republican Caucus. Prior to that he worked for the Freedom Foundation as the Project Manager for the Teachers Paycheck Protection project, shepherding the development of the Foundation’s landmark U.S. Supreme Court case to protect teacher rights. Jami is an accomplished speaker and researcher, one of Washington state’s top scholars on education policy and finance.