Oregon’s per-student spending was 4.6% below the national average in the 2019-2020 school year, newly released figures from the National Center for Education Statistics show.
The state spent an average of $12,810 per pupil that school year, which ranked below the national average of $13,393 per pupil, though that figure is skewed by big spending by states in the Northeast, which in some cases spent nearly twice what Oregon did per student. Oregon was also outspent by neighboring Washington, which spent $14,535 per student.
However, the state’s per-pupil spending did tick up nearly 3% from the previous year — and Oregon’s per-student spending is expected to rise significantly in future datasets because schools began receiving money from the state’s 2019 Student Success Act in the 2020-2021 school year.
That money is aimed at paying for smaller class sizes, more mental health support in schools and more help for historically underserved students, including children of color. (All school districts nationwide have also gotten an unprecedented windfall of money from the federal government’s COVID relief spending — about $1.7 billion in Oregon alone — but that’s one-time money that is use-it-or-lose-it by fall 2024.)
The big question for Oregon in the years ahead: Will all that new money result in better outcomes, particularly given the setbacks experienced by many students during the pandemic’s prolonged school closures? The state’s fourth- and eighth-graders performed among the worst in the country on math tests given to a representative sample of students nationwide and were below average in reading.
Oregon’s 2019-2020 spending level put it in the middle of the pack. Twenty-two states and Washington D.C. spent more per pupil than Oregon that year; most of those states lean Democratic.
But there are exceptions: A handful of conservative-leaning states, including North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Ohio and Alaska, all spent more per pupil than Oregon did — though states with a preponderance of far-flung rural districts, like Alaska and Wyoming, have historically had to spend more on transportation costs and to attract and keep staff.
Oregon’s per pupil spending was closest to Virginia ($12,903), Kansas ($12,732) and Michigan ($12,736) in 2019-2020. But drawing a link between which of those states got the most proverbial bang for their buck is tricky, given that the most universal metric — testing data — is spotty or missing for that academic year because of the pandemic.
But the previous spring, Virginia’s students consistently led Oregon, Kansas and Michigan in elementary and middle school math results and elementary school reading, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP scores are drawn from the only standardized achievement test given to a representative sample of students in all states; it’s often referred to as the nation’s report card.
Money alone is not a guarantee of student performance. New York state spent more than any other state per pupil in the 2019-2020 school year — $25,132, according to the National Center for Education Statistics data, or almost twice what Oregon spent. And yet the Empire State’s results on the 2019 NAEP tests didn’t outperform national averages.
According to the data, Portland Public Schools, the state’s largest district, spent $14,829 per pupil in the 2019-2020 school year, more than the state average. That’s in part because districts receive extra funding from the state to serve students who need special education services, are learning to speak English or are from historically underserved communities or high needs families. The state’s second largest school district, in Salem-Keizer, spent just shy of the state average, or $12,210 per pupil.
In both districts and in the state overall, the bulk of school funding, around 83%, is spent on staff salaries and benefits.
— Julia Silverman, @jrlsilverman, jsilverman@oregonian.com