Understanding Education Spending
Nov 16th, 2009 by David Anderson
The CR Institute put out some informationon sunlightonschools.org. It is aimed at helping us to understand education spending better. Here is an extract of their districts of the week. The interesting statistic to me is “percent of total expenditures spent on instruction”. CR spends over 60% on instruction while the other districts are in the 40% range. I want to know more how that statistic is calculated, but regardless how it is calculated, it says Caesar Rodney School district has something good going on. That may have something to do with its nationally recognized academics even though it is not one of the richer districts.
Appoquinimink School District
Student/Teacher Ratio: 13.61 (state average: 13.9)
Administrators’ Average Salary: $96,970 (state average: $96,390)
Teachers’ Average Salary: $51,860 (state average: $55,890)
Cost per Student: $14,090 (state average: $14,035)
Net Instruction Expenditures: $48,870,000 (42 percent of total expenditures spent on instruction)
Cape Henlopen School District
Student/Teacher Ratio: 13.66 (state average: 13.9)
Administrators’ Average Salary: $104,140 (state average: $96,390)
Teachers’ Average Salary: $58,960 (state average: $55,890)
Cost per Student: $21,860 (state average: $14,035)
Net Instruction Expenditures: $40,090,000 (40.8 percent of total expenditures spent on instruction)
Caesar Rodney School District
Student/Teacher Ratio: 11.79 (state average: 13.9)
Administrators’ Average Salary: $99,580 (state average: $96,390)
Teachers’ Average Salary: $51,100 (state average: $55,890)
Cost per Student: $11,030 (state average: $14,035)
Net Instruction Expenditures: $43,490,000 (60.6 percent of total expenditures spent on instruction)
One thing I’d caution you on is not to put too much credence into the student/teacher ratio as a “window” on what the average teacher faces in the classroom. Such a ratio includes special education classes whose ratios typically are FAR below those of [the school majority] regular ed. teachers.
Hube is on point. I know teachers in all of the districts listed in the post and the last time they saw classrooms with 13 students in them was when the flu devastated their respective schools.
$21k-per-student at Cape? What are they doing, providing 24 carat braces for buck-tooth students? Macs for the student body? Filet mignon lunches?
What a joke.
At the November monthly Sussex GOP meeting the CR guys made a big deal about that Cape Henlopen phenomina.
Seven K MORE for a Cape Henlopen student than the rest of the state?
And no one knows why except there was another lady at that meeting trying to get at the Cape Henlopen budget and she said something weird, weird goeth there.
I say it has something to do with that Clearspace thingamabingy. But I just guess.