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(Saint Paul) – State Auditor Pat Anderson released a report today on the finances of Minnesota’s school districts and charter schools. Financial Trends of Minnesota School Districts summarizes the financial data of the 346 school districts in the state as well as the state’s 101 charter schools.

“Although enrollment continues to decline, spending continues to increase,” said Anderson. “Increased costs for special education and employee benefits seem to be some of the main drivers for the increased spending.”

Key Findings

The report analyzes school district finances from 2001 to 2005. The report’s key findings include the following:

• Enrollment Decline Continues, Spending Increases—Since 2001 there has been a 2.3 percent decline in overall public school enrollment. For school districts with less than 1000 students, the decline was almost double-digits at 9.5 percent. However, between 2001 and 2005, per pupil operating expenditures increased an average of 16.0 percent, growing from $7,587 to $8,804. When adjusted for inflation the increase was 6.7 percent.
  
  The categories with the largest per pupil percentage increase are Student Activities/Athletics (23.4 percent) and Instruction (18.7 percent). Within total Instruction spending, Regular Instruction spending went up 16.1 percent over the time period, while Special Education spending went up 33 percent. It is interesting to note that Vocational Education spending declined 2.7 percent.
  
  
• Increases in Employee Benefits and Special Education Continue to Drive Spending—Employee benefits have helped drive spending by increasing 29.7 percent. Over this same time period overall employee salaries only increased by 11.2 percent, or just about at the rate of inflation.

Special Education has continued to increase dramatically – 33 percent over the 5-year period. It is interesting to note that while spending on Special Education increased 33 percent, the number of Special Education students grew by only 5.3 percent.

• Growth in Special Populations Continues—While overall enrollment declined in Minnesota’s public schools, the number of students classified in various subgroups of total enrollment increased.

Rankings Available Online

Based on the data included in the report, all school districts were ranked in a number of categories on a per pupil basis². Citizens and policymakers can use this information to see how their revenues, expenditures and demographic information compare to other schools in the state. A user-friendly online tool, available at the State Auditor’s website, provides access to information on individual school districts, as well as the charter schools, included in this report. It also allows users to make side-by-side comparisons of school districts in a number of categories. All information is available on a per pupil basis. It is available at www.auditor.state.mn.us.

“Education funding can be a complicated topic, which is why we provide as much information as possible,” said Anderson. “The web tool rankings have become a valuable asset for both citizens and policymakers. We believe by providing a comparable set of facts that we can improve the dialog on public education.”

The Office of the State Auditor has a PDF version of this report available for download and viewing by the public at www.auditor.state.mn.us.

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¹ Percent change is based on expenditures per pupil.
² The data used in the report is collected by the Minnesota Department of Education and analyzed by the Office of the State Auditor.

http://www.auditor.state.mn.us/reports/gid/2005/schooldistrict/schooldistrict_05_press.pdf

RELATED LINKS

 Office of the State Auditor/School District Reports  
 Compare Schools  
 See how south-metro districts rank, Star Tribune