Study: California, Michigan, Kentucky and Missouri have increased per student public spending the most since the pandemic (Reason Foundation)

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Public school enrollment has dropped the most in Hawaii, New York, Mississippi, Oregon, and California, while teachers’ salaries decreased the most in North Carolina, New Mexico, South Carolina, and West Virginia. 

Los Angeles (November 20, 2025)—California has increased per-student education spending the most in the nation since the COVID-19 pandemic, up 31.5% from $19,724 in 2020 to $25,941 per pupil in 2023. Since the pandemic, per-student spending has also grown by at least 15% in Michigan, Kentucky, Missouri, Hawaii, New Mexico, Arizona, Mississippi, and Alabama, according to a new Reason Foundation study.

U.S. public schools received $946.5 billion in funding in 2023, with New York topping all states by spending $36,976 per student, followed by New Jersey at $30,267 per student. The other six states that spent over $25,000 per student were Vermont ($29,169), Connecticut ($28,975), Pennsylvania ($26,242), California ($25,941), Rhode Island ($25,709), and Hawaii ($25,485).

Idaho was the only state that spent less than $12,000 per student in 2023. Utah, Oklahoma and North Carolina spent less than $14,000 per student.

While public school spending is rising, enrollment has been falling significantly since the pandemic. From 2020 to 2023, public school enrollment dropped in 39 states, the Reason Foundation report shows.

With a 6% decrease, Hawaii has experienced the largest decline in public school students since 2020. Enrollment also decreased by more than five percent in New York, Mississippi, Oregon, and California, and four percent in New Mexico, New Hampshire, Illinois, West Virginia, Colorado, Kentucky, Washington, Rhode Island, and Michigan, Reason Foundation finds.

The pandemic and inflation also hit teachers’ salaries hard. From 2020 to 2022, the average teacher’s salary decreased by more than five percent in 38 states.

Teachers’ salaries declined the most from 2020 to 2022, the most recent year with complete data available, in North Carolina (−9.6%), New Mexico (−8.8%), South Carolina (−8.7%), West Virginia (−8.6%), and Mississippi (−8.2%). Only one state, Minnesota, increased teachers’ salaries after the pandemic, the study by Reason Foundation shows.

One thing siphoning money away from salaries is the rising spending on employee benefits, which includes teacher retirement plans and pension debt, health insurance, and other expenses.

In 2023, New Jersey’s employee benefit costs totaled $8,333 per student. In New York, the cost of benefits was $7,949 per student. Vermont and Connecticut also spent more than $7,000 per student on employee benefits. Employee benefit costs also exceeded $5,000 per student in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Massachusetts, Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wyoming, and Alaska.

Amid all the spending, students’ National Assessment of Educational Progress scores regressed from 2022 to 2024 in all but one category, and scores were worse in 2024 than in 2003.

The findings are part of Reason Foundation’s K-12 Education Spotlight. You can find an overview of these key findings here and detailed data from each state’s school finance system from 2002 to 2023 here.

Contact:
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