COMMENTARY: We spend too much on K–12 education

COMMENTARY: We spend too much on K–12 education By Erika Sanzi InsideSources.com September 29, 2026 - 9:00 pm The United States devotes an excessive amount of resources to K–12 schooling. This does not imply that every dollar spent is wasteful, nor that every authority must maintain the same level of expenditure or that schools could operate without administrators, regulatory functions and support services. Rather, it signals that the cost of public education has drifted away from the number of pupils it serves and the outcomes it delivers. Consequently, taxpayers are paying substantially more while receiving less in return. Between autumn 2019 and autumn 2024, public‑school enrollment dropped by 1.44 million students, a decline of 2.84 percent. Lower birth rates account for part of this shrinkage, while many families have opted for private institutions, home‑schooling, microschools and other alternatives. Within the public sector, enrollment has shifted from traditional district schools to charter schools. Expenditures moved in the opposite direction. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics show that per‑pupil spending rose from $13,187 in fiscal year 2019 to $17,644 in fiscal year 2024 — a nominal increase of 33.8 percent. After adjusting for inflation, the upward trend persists. Congress also approved an additional $189.5 billion in temporary federal COVID‑relief aid for schools during the same window. Schools did not merely use the extra funds to preserve existing staffing levels; they expanded their workforce. From autumn 2013 to autumn 2022, while enrollment fell by 426,058 pupils, public schools added 607,569 staff members, boosting total personnel by 10 percent according to a Bellwether analysis. Administrative staff at the district level — encompassing officials, administrators and instructional coordinators — grew by 49,671 positions, a 36 percent increase. Student achievement did not mirror these staffing gains. National reading scores fell again in 2024. Only 30 percent of fourth‑graders and 29 percent of eighth‑graders scored at or above NAEP proficiency in reading. Just 27 percent of eighth‑graders reached proficiency in math. Performance in both subjects remained below the 2019 baseline. This pattern is not an argument for reallocating school funds differently; it is evidence that the nation is spending excessively for the education it receives: fewer pupils, more employees, higher costs and deteriorating results. The per‑pupil expenditure figure should not be equated with the amount that actually reaches classrooms. Current outlays cover instruction but also administration, transportation, food service, pupil support, operations and maintenance. Broader school budgets incorporate operating expenses and debt obligations. Districts additionally allocate money to consultants, communications teams, legal and compliance offices and other functions that do not directly teach reading or mathematics. Many of these expenses are indeed necessary. The core issue is that school systems have taken on an ever‑expanding roster of duties and obligations without demonstrating that the extra spending improves their fundamental educational mission. More money in the system does not automatically translate into more classroom resources, stronger instruction or higher teacher salaries. Declining enrollment can drive per‑pupil costs upward. A half‑empty facility still requires heating, maintenance and staffing. Pension liabilities, capital needs and debt obligations persist after students depart. Districts that refuse to consolidate underused schools or to trim administrative spreads distribute those fixed costs across a shrinking student base. “Hold harmless” policies can further insulate districts from enrollment losses. Such provisions may allow time for an orderly adjustment, but extended protections weaken the link between funding and the number of students served. They also reduce the incentive to respond when families leave over academics, discipline, program or school culture. Under these policies, districts can lose customers without losing a corresponding share of revenue. Lower‑spending states illustrate that targeted reforms can yield better outcomes than simply inflating budgets. Mississippi spent $12,639 per pupil, yet its 2024 fourth‑grade reading score stood five points above the national average. Tennessee spent $13,169 and ranked fourth among 35 states for reading improvement from 2022 to 2025, according to the Harvard‑Stanford Education Scorecard. Louisiana spent $15,739 and was the sole state whose 2024 fourth‑grade reading score exceeded its 2019 result. Florida provides perhaps the clearest illustration. It allocated $13,721 per pupil but scored six points above the national public‑school mean in fourth‑grade mathematics — a statistically significant difference. Florida achieved this while spending roughly half as much per pupil as Massachusetts and New Jersey. Money matters, but that does not justify every spending level. When costs and staffing rise while enrollment and achievement fall — and when some states secure competitive results for dramatically less — the conclusion is straightforward: The United States spends too much on K‑12 education and gets too little in return. Erika Sanzi is the manager of communications at Defending Education. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.