Total PPE Vs Low Income Students

Last updated: April 7, 2025

Contents

Interactive Total Per Pupil Expenditures (TPPE) for all WA school districts
Summary
Notes
Sortable data table
Examples

Figure 1

Summary

For the 2023-2024 school year, for the State average:

The OSPI’s Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) version is reporting $18,600
The more useful, more inclusive, and more transparent Total Per Pupil Expenditures (TPPE) version reported here is $22,100

Taxpayers are paying the $22,100 per pupil per year on average that WA school districts are spending. That is 18.5% more than the OSPI’s PPE version.

The OSPI’s version of PPE agrees with the author’s TPPE for charter schools since WA’s charter schools aren’t allowed to run local levies (enrichment levies or capital levies) or bonds. Charter schools don’t have capital outlays nor interest on debt. About a dozen tiny traditional public school districts (fewer than 100 students in their district) in WA have not been running local capital levies or bonds. So they also have agreement between the PPE and TPPE. But for all other traditional public school districts in WA (the vast majority of the 295), the OSPI’s PPE version underestimates what these school districts are actually spending with taxpayer dollars.

For example, the Seattle SD’s Total Per Pupil Expenditures is at $27,600. Bellevue’s is at $26,800. Tacoma’s is at $25,500. Fife’s is at $28,300.

WA State Total Per Pupil Expenditures

Figure 2

WA State Total Per Pupil Expenditures

Figure 3

Notes

The OSPI’s definition of Per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) only includes the General Fund. The alternative Total Per Pupil Expenditures (TPPE) used here includes:

Capital Projects Fund expenses (6 year rolling averages). These are capital outlays which are usually purchased from funds from local capital levies and/or local bonds.
ASB Fund expenses.
Transportation Vehicle Fund expenses (6 year rolling averages).
Interest on debt. This can be substantial since it is mostly bond interest from 10 to 27 year bonds.

The enrollments used in these charts are Annual Average Full-Time Equivalent (AAFTE) enrollments. The OSPI also is using the AAFTE enrollments.

The tiny Almira SD had their one and only school building accidentally burn to the ground in 2021. Their large amounts of capital spending over the last few years were funded with insurance money and emergency State funding.

The other outliers in the chart are generally financially inefficient (high overhead) small (~100 students total or fewer) traditional public school districts.

See the Examples section below for snapshots of the F196 Budget Reports. WA school districts are required to submit these budget reports to the OSPI every year. School districts have several “Funds” to work with:

The “GeneraL” Fund is the largest by far. It is where “Current” expenditures are made including staff salaries and staff pension funding.
There is an “ASB” Fund for Associated Student Body expenses.
There is a “Debt Service” Fund. That is generally for school district bonds for districts that run bonds.
There is a “Capital Projects” Fund. That is where expenses for new buildings, repairs to existing buildings, and other capital expenses are paid from.
There is a “Transportation Vehicle” Fund. That is used usually for buying new buses every few years.
The “Permanent” Fund is unused.

Sortable data table

Columns guide:

County: Lead County
District: School District
General: General Fund Total Expenditures Per Pupil (OSPI’s PPE Uses This Only)
ASB: ASB Fund Total Expenditures Per Pupil
Capital: Capital Projects Fund Total Expenditures (6 Year Rolling Average) Per Pupil
Transp: Transportation Vehicle Fund Total Expenditures (6 Year Rolling Average) Per Pupil
Interest: Debt Service Fund’s Interest And Other Charges Per Pupil
TPPE: Total Per Pupil Expenditures = General + ASB + Capital + Transp + Interest
AAFTE: Annual Average Full-Time Equivalent Enrollment