CCSD Per Pupil Expenditures For FY 2008

The Georgia Department of Education’s per pupil expenditure figures for FY 2008 were posted early this afternoon – and the numbers for the Clarke County School District, both in absolute and percentile terms, continue to amaze (and no, that is not a compliment).

Regarding absolute expenditures, the figure for the CCSD came in at $11,180.05, up $433.11 from the $10,746.94 figure for FY 2007. This constituted a modest increase of 4.03%. Even so, it still placed the CCSD between the 94th and 95th percentiles of the school systems included in the calculations (169 out of 179; for whatever reason Liberty County was excluded).

Consider some specifics; the breakdown of the CCSD’s per pupil expenditures for the DOE's seven administrative categories was:

Instruction $7357.46 (20.81% above the state average of $6090.18)

Pupil Services $303.20 (5.23% above the state average of $288.13)

Staff Services $730.77 (57.68% above the state average of $463.44)

General Administration $461.09 (4.42% above the state average of $441.58)

School Administration $634.01 (13.97% above the state average of $556.29)

Transportation $714.04 (63.77% above the state average of $436.01)

Maintenance & Operations $979.49 (41.50% above the state average of $692.20)

Total $11,180.05 (24.67% above the state average of $8967.83)

Of the ten school systems that spent more per pupil than did the CCSD in FY 2008, nine had much smaller student populations. That means that they had to spread fixed capital and administrative cost over fewer students, thereby forcing their per pupil expenditures up. They were:

Quitman County $17,266.97 (239 pupils)

Talbot County $14,604.39 (648 pupils)

Clay County $14,177.16 (312 pupils)

Taliaferro County $13,799.99 (222 pupils)

Atlanta City $13,710.40 (49,036 pupils)

Decatur City $13,443.93 (2504 pupils)

Baker County $12,196.32 (442 pupils)

Warren County $11,529.75 (771 pupils)

Randolph County $11,450.92 (1299 pupils)

Montgomery County $11,278.48 (1103 pupils)

Compare the CCSD per pupil expenditure with those of out neighboring school systems:

Barrow County (12,194 pupils) $7968.16 (71.27% of CCSD)

Jackson County (6852 pupils $10,279.22 (91.94% of CCSD)

Madison County (4711 pupils) $8942.75 (79.99% of CCSD)

Oconee County (6471 pupils) $8542.34 (76.41% of CCSD)

Oglethorpe County (2438 pupils) $8756.68 (78.32% of CCSD)

Then compare the graduation rates, AYP measurements, and test scores of those systems with those of the CCSD. What you will find is that the CCSD spent considerably more money per pupil and got consistently lower achievement . . . again.

Also note that the FTE (full time equivalent) count given for the CCSD was 11,834 students, an increase of 419 over the 11,415 given for FY 2007, not the “around 14,000” that is frequently claimed by the CCSD.

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