WASHINGTON — Public school spending in the United States has reached a record level even as enrollment continues to decline and Americans report historically low satisfaction with the nation’s K-12 education system. The U.S. Census Bureau says public schools spent an average of $17,619 per stude nt in fiscal 2024, a 6.6% increase from $16,526 the previous year. The figure covers current operating expenses for public elementary and secondary schools and does not include construction, land, equipment or debt service. At the same time, enrollment is projected to continue falling. National Center for Education Statistics data show public elementary and secondary enrollment fell from about 50.8 million students in 2019 to roughly 49.4 million in 2024. Federal projections put enrollment at about 46.9 million by 2031. The combination of higher spending and fewer students is fueling a broader debate over how school systems use their resources and how districts should respond to changing enrollment. A September 2026 Fox News opinion column by education policy commentator Corey DeAngelis points to the spending, enrollment and academic-performance numbers as evidence that the nation’s education system is facing significant challenges. DeAngelis argues that families should have more educational options, including alternatives to traditional public schools. Separate polling from Gallup shows dissatisfaction with K-12 education has reached a record level. Gallup’s September 2026 survey found that 32% of Americans were satisfied with the quality of K-12 education in the United States, while 67% were dissatisfied. The 32% satisfaction figure is the lowest in Gallup’s 27-year trend. Among parents of current K-12 students, 66% said they were satisfied with the education their own child was receiving. That was also a record low, although parents remained considerably more positive about their own child’s education than about American education overall. Academic performance is another part of the discussion. The most recent results from the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, measure the performance of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science across dozens of education systems. In 2022, U.S. students posted an average mathematics score of 465. That was down from 478 in 2018. The U.S. reading score was 504 in 2022, compared with 505 in 2018. The PISA results do not establish that increased spending caused or failed to cause changes in student performance. The assessment measures student achievement internationally, while education spending encompasses a wide range of operating costs and differs substantially among states and school districts. Spending also varies considerably across the country. The Census Bureau reported that New York had the highest current spending per student in fiscal 2024 at $31,918, followed by the District of Columbia at $31,529, Vermont at $28,818, New Jersey at $27,234 and Connecticut at $26,316. At the other end of the scale, Idaho spent $11,060 per student, followed by Utah at $11,347, Arizona at $12,003, Oklahoma at $12,162 and Mississippi at $12,324. Those differences reflect more than classroom instruction. Public school systems have expenses that include teachers and other employees, transportation, special education, administration, building operations and other services. The enrollment decline is also creating a separate challenge for districts: fewer students do not necessarily mean costs fall at the same rate. Federal projections show enrollment declines continuing through 2031. NCES projects total public elementary and secondary enrollment to fall by about 5.5% from 2022 to 2031. That demographic shift is already prompting school districts to consider building closures and consolidations as they try to match their facilities and staffing levels with smaller student populations. The debate over school performance is also occurring alongside increased interest in alternatives to traditional public schools. The Fox News opinion article points to the growth of homeschooling and school-choice programs as evidence of changing preferences among some families. It also cites examples from states including Texas and New York. Those examples reflect the author’s argument for expanded educational choice rather than establishing a nationwide causal explanation for enrollment changes. What the available data establish is a more complicated picture: public-school spending has reached a record level, enrollment is projected to continue declining, international assessments show significant challenges in mathematics performance, and public satisfaction with K-12 education has fallen to a record low. The numbers do not by themselves identify a single cause for those trends. They do, however, illustrate the financial and educational pressures facing school districts as they serve a changing student population. The post U.S. school spending reaches record high as enrollment and satisfaction fall appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less