Mississippi still lags in education spending

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — The U.S. Census Bureau has released “Public Education Finances: 2008,” and it shows Mississippi is still near the bottom in per pupil spending and near the top in federal funding for education in the U.S.

In 2007-2008, Mississippi spent $7,901 per elementary-secondary pupil, sixth lowest in the country. The states with lower per-pupil spending were Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arizona, Idaho and Utah.

In 2008, public school systems nationwide spent an average of $10,259 per pupil, a 6.1 percent increase over 2007.

U.S. public school systems received $582.1 billion in total funding in 2008, up 4.5 percent from 2007. Federal sources made up 8.1 percent of that total across the nation.

Mississippi received approximately $4.44 billion. Roughly $708.25 million came from the federal government. Representing 16 percent of total funding, only Louisiana’s 16.8 percent was higher.

For the complete report, visit www.census.gov/govs/school/.

4 Responses to “Mississippi still lags in education spending”

1. Sade Turnipseed Says:
   June 29th, 2010 at 10:01 am

   Okay,
   where is the outrage…? I am not pleased with the fact that on one hand we talk about how important education is…and on the other hand, not willing to spend the money in the places where it will clearly have the most impact. Mississippi get it together and address the situation, please.

   cst

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