Report: R.I. school spending slows <br> but reliance on local taxes grows

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PROVIDENCE – As other states have been reducing schools systems’ reliance on property taxes, the Ocean State has been moving in the other direction, according to a report released today by the nonpartisan Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council.
Spending here, however, has declined by comparison with that nationwide.
In 2005-2006, the state ranked ninth nationwide with per-pupil spending of $11,089 per year, based on fall enrollment, or 122.9 percent of the national average. That was down from fifth place 10 years earlier, when spending was $7,304 or 128.3 percent of the national average at the time.
Over the same decade, Massachusetts rose from seventh to fifth, with spending of $12,276 per pupil or 136.1 percent of average, while Connecticut rose from fourth to third, with spending of $23,436 or 137.8 percent of the U.S. average.
Over the decade in question, spending per pupil rose 51.8 percent in Rhode Island, the policy group said, exceeding Connecticut’s spending growth of 50.8 percent but lagging the nation’s 58.4 percent and Bay State’s 79.4 percent spending surge.
The 10-year comparisons are new to RIPEC’s annual “How Rhode Island Schools Compare” analysis of education finances here versus those in the rest of the region and the nation.
They show that local tax revenue accounted for 60.2 percent of the budget at R.I. public schools in 2005-2006, up from 53.4 percent in 1995-1996. The U.S. average in 2005-2006 was 43.3 percent, down from 45.1 percent 10 years earlier.
Connecticut public schools derived 54.8 percent of their revenue from local taxes in 2005-2006, downfrom 56.5 percent 10 years earlier, and Massachusetts schools 51.4 percent, down from 59.3 percent.
The state’s share of the Rhode Island public schools’ budget shrank from 41.5 percent in 1995-1996 to 36.5 percent 10 years later, while the federal share waned from 5.1 percent to 3.4 percent.
In Massachusetts over the same period, the state’s share grew from 35.5 percent to 42.9 percent while the federal share expanded from 5.3 percent to 5.6 percent. In the Nutmeg State, the state’s share shrank from 48.1 percent to 47.6 percent but the federal share grew from 6.7 percent to 9.1 percent of total public school spending.
For teacher salaries, RIPEC found, Connecticut was No. 1 nationwide in both periods, at $59,499 in the most recent period up from $50,254 a decade earlier. Massachusetts’ rank also was unchanged, at No. 9, with teacher salaries rising to $56,587 from the decade-ago $41,756. Meanwhile, Rhode Island rose one notch from No. 9 in 1995-1996 to No. 8 10 years later, as estimated teacher pay rose from $41,756 or 110.8 percent of the U.S. average to $54,730 or 111.4 percent of the national average in 2005-2006.

The Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council is a business-backed nonprofit public policy research and advocacy group. For more information, including RIPEC’s 11-page “How Rhode Island Schools Compare: 2007 Edition,” visit ripec.org.

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