Track Every Dollar · The record
How we track every dollar
Where every number comes from, how often it is checked, and the checks it passes before it is published.
The sources
- Public school money in and out, every state and school system: the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Survey of School System Finances. Every public school system in the country reports to it. Latest year: 2023-24. census.gov
- Federal money by program and state: USAspending.gov, the federal government's official spending record. Latest full year: federal fiscal year 2025. usaspending.gov
- State lottery money: each state lottery's own annual report or audited financial statements, the state law that says where lottery profit goes, and state audits of the lottery.
How often
Our tracking system checks every source each week. Federal numbers update monthly. Lottery reports are checked monthly from September to January, when most lotteries publish the year that ended June 30. Census school finance numbers update when the Census Bureau releases a new year. Every update is listed on the changes page.
The checks
- Census: the school system numbers for each state are added up and must match the Census Bureau's own state table on seven totals before they are published.
- Federal: the 50 states and DC must add up to the national total for each program, apart from territories and money not assigned to a state.
- Lottery: every lottery figure carries the exact words from its source. Before it is published, the source is downloaded again, those words must appear in it, and the number in them must equal the figure. A figure that fails is not published.
- Big moves: a number that moves more than 25% within the same year is held for a second read before it replaces the old one.
- Unknown means unknown. A number we could not verify is shown as unknown, never as zero.
What the words mean
- Money in (revenue): everything a school system received in the school year, from federal, state and local sources.
- Spent per student: day-to-day (current) spending per student: teaching, support services and food service. Buildings, equipment and interest on debt are counted separately. State and school system figures are both current spending divided by fall enrollment, from the Census Bureau's data.
- Committed (obligated): federal money the government has legally committed to spend, in the federal fiscal year (October to September).
- Lottery to education: the lottery profit the lottery report says went to education, in that lottery's fiscal year.
Found an error?
Tell us. Corrections are listed on the corrections page.