Dollars to the Classroom Act
FAQ

A recent study found that for every tax dollar sent to Washington for elementary and secondary education, eighty-five cents is returned to local school districts. The remaining 15 cents is spent on bureaucracy and national and research programs of unknown effectiveness. The Department of Education has since released a study, which also found that about 85 cents of federal dollars reaches school districts for use in the classroom. Although these studies provided information not previously available on federal education spending, they only examined what was returned to school districts, still several layers of bureaucracy away from the classroom.

To date, no studies exist to enable us to determine what portion of federal education dollars reach the classroom, or what schools and state education agencies must spend to apply for education dollars and comply with their requirements. However, audits of school district spending indicate just how little in general reaches the classroom. A recent audit of the New York City School District found that only 43 percent of the district’s total funds were spent on direct classroom expenditures.

SOURCES
U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, 1997, NCES 98-015, by Thomas D. Snyder. Production Manager, Charlene M. Hoffman, Program Analyst, Claire M. Geddes. Washington, DC: 1997.

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Federal Support for Education: Fiscal Years 1980 to 1997, NCES 97-383, by Charlene M. Hoffman. Washington, DC:1997.

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 1995-96, NCES 98-205.