Report: Cave Creek Unified Spends 54% More Than Reported

According to estimates from the CATO Institute, Cave Creek Unified spends significantly more than it publicly reports.  The report says that real total per pupil spending was $13,929 for FY 2008.  This is 54% higher than the publicly reported $9024 and is 106% higher than estimated private school costs.

That popping sound you hear are the heads in the district office exploding as they read this post.

Here is the chart from the report...

We have done this math before. This district spends about $80 million per year and has about 6000 students.  This gives you a number of +$13,000 per student.  The difference comes primarily from the principal and interest costs on the district's outstanding debt. Whether it is fair to include this money when calculating what the district spends is a matter of perspective.  One argument is that charter schools can't bond, so they take the funds for rent\lease\interest on a facility purchases out of their operating budget, thus their numbers show a truer picture of per pupil spending. The other argument is that traditionally, national per pupil spending reporting does not include debt service\captial expenditures.

Ultimately, the report is not anything new, but it will be fodder for those looking to cut education spending.

View the entire report here.