New York spends $1 million per classroom
GEORGE NOGA
JUL 9, 2023
I have been involved in the school choice movement (one of my signature issues) on the local, state and national level as an activist and observer for 30 years. I am also a CPA and can reconstruct the true spending by government schools. This post: (1) computes the real amount spent per classroom; (2) compares classroom costs in Florida and New York; and (3) analyzes the results in a unique format that shows the money wasted by government schools. Note: My 3/26/23 post compares FL and NY taxes and spending; you may read it is on my website or in the Substack archives.
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Spending Per Classroom in New York
Based on a composite of several sources, New York State spends $30,700 per student; but that is just the starting point. To the base amount of $30,700 must be added:
- Education spending elsewhere in the state budget and off the budget
- Federal funding – which usually runs around 10% of total spending
- Grants from governments, NGOs and others estimated at 5%
- Funds paid by parents and students also estimated at 5%
- Proceeds from bonds and other debt instruments
- Pensions and health care for retirees
- Debt service on school and mixed purpose bonds
Without an audit it is impossible to know precisely how much all of the above items add to the basic amount. Fortunately, someone already has done the work. The CATO Institute published a study of public school spending in several districts across the USA. CATO determined the average off-budget spending was 44%, while the minimum found in any district was 19%. Placing NY somewhere in the middle of this range, I add 30% or $9,300 to the $30,700 base amount, which results in total spending of $40,000 per student. Since the NY average classroom size is 25, the total spending per classroom is your basic one million dollars. BINGO!
It is not an accident that no human being is able to determine the actual spending on government schools. Educrats and unions intentionally make the data as opaque as possible to prevent anyone knowing the true spending. Despite the gargantuan spending, the quality of education is dismal and no one is happy. Teachers caterwaul about pay; educrats grumble about budgets; and parents flee en masse.
Spending Per Classroom in FL and Compared To NY
Spending data for Florida also is opaque as the funding comes from myriad sources. To be fair, I took data from several sources and chose the one with the highest spending, which is $11,000 per student (national average is $13,200). Adding the same 30% as New York to cover all off budget spending, means FL is spending an added $3,300, equalling total spending of $14,300. Again assuming the same 25 student class size as NY, results in spending $357,000 per classroom.
NY spends $643,000 more or 280% that of FL for each and every classroom. It costs nearly triple to educate each student in government schools in NY compared to FL. Moreover, the quality of education in FL is much higher than NY when using an apples-to-apples comparison. When deconstructing students by race and other metrics (and then reaggregating them), FL ranks #3 in the USA while NY is toward the bottom. People in NY are paying nearly triple and for vastly inferior results.
Analysis of Spending Per Classroom
To the best of my knowledge, no other source uses spending on the classroom level; they all use per student spending. However, looking at the issue by classroom reveals truths that otherwise might be masked. Let’s take a dive into the data.
In NY the average teacher salary is $80,000; when allowing an added 25% to cover benefits, a teacher costs $100,000. Of course, we also must provide for certain schoolwide expenses such as a principal, some assistants, guidance counselors, computer support, PE, art and music teachers, librarian, custodial and support staff. This should add no more than another $100,000 per classroom. And yes, we must allow for the cost of district administration which should add no more than another $50,000 per classroom – raising the total to $250,000 for each NY classroom.
Where is the other $750,000 per NY classroom? NY spends $3.00 outside the classroom for every $1 spent in the classroom, while FL spends $1.50 outside the classroom for each classroom dollar spent. Elite private schools spend about 50 cents outside the classroom for every classroom dollar. The champs are parochial schools, which spend only ten cents outside the classroom for every classroom dollar. Our local parochial school district has 15,000 students and only 3 full time administrators.
The Bottom Line
Waste, fraud, abuse and corruption are endemic in government schools which are incapable of reform. As the juxtaposition of NY and FL shows, spending and quality are uncorrelated and, in fact, negatively correlated. The only solution is universal school choice where the money follows the student. Nothing else will work.
© 2023 George Noga
More Liberty – Less Government, Post Office Box 916381
Longwood, FL 32791-6381, Email: mllg@cfl.rr.com
