Track Every Dollar

Maine: every school dollar

Where Maine's public school money comes from, where it goes, what Washington sends, and how the state spends its lottery money. Select any line for more.

Public school money, 2023-24$3.7 billion
Spent per student, day to day$19,962U.S.: $17,619
Students169,315267 school systems
Lottery money to educationLottery money goes to other purposes

Where the money comes from

$3.7 billion in the 2023-24 school year. Select federal, state or local to see every line.

Federal 8%State 41%Local 51%

Federal $314 million8.4%

All other federal money$172 million54.9%
Special education (IDEA)$57.7 million18.4%
Title I: schools with many low-income families$57.6 million18.4%
Teacher and principal training (Title II)$6.9 million2.2%
Impact Aid$3.7 million1.2%
Career and technical education$3.2 million1.0%
After-school programs (21st Century)$3.2 million1.0%
Rural schools$3.2 million1.0%
Student support and enrichment (Title IV-A)$2.3 million0.7%
School meals$2.2 million0.7%
Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native education$905,0000.3%
English learners (Title III)$682,0000.2%

Inside the federal total: $144 million of pandemic relief (ESSER and related funds), which ended in 2024.

State $1.5 billion40.6%

General formula aid$1.3 billion83.3%
Paid by the state for the district (benefits and other costs)$214 million14.1%
All other state money$33.4 million2.2%
Special education$4.8 million0.3%
School meals$1.0 millionunder 0.1%
Staff improvement$890,000under 0.1%

Local $1.9 billion51.0%

Property taxes$970 million50.8%
From the parent city or county government$863 million45.2%
Interest, rents, donations and other$37.3 million2.0%
From cities and counties$20.0 million1.0%
Tuition, fees, meals and other charges$18.5 million1.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024. School year 2023-24. census.gov the data file

Where it goes

$3.7 billion spent. Select support services for every line.

Teaching (instruction)$2.0 billion52.8%
Support services Details$1.4 billion37.1%
- Running and maintaining buildings$400 million28.8%
- Student support: attendance, guidance, health and psychological services$252 million18.1%
- Student transportation$174 million12.5%
- School administration: principals' offices$167 million12.0%
- Teacher support: curriculum, training, libraries$154 million11.1%
- District administration: the board and superintendent's office$130 million9.4%
- Other support services and benefits paid by the state$55.4 million4.0%
- Business office and central services$55.3 million4.0%
Buildings and equipment Details$153 million4.1%
Of this, construction: $90.7 million.
Food service and other$130 million3.5%
Interest on debt$52.6 million1.4%
Community services and adult education$36.4 million1.0%
Payments to state and local governments$2.5 millionunder 0.1%

Inside these totals: $1.9 billion in salaries and wages, $603 million in employee benefits. Long-term debt at year end: $1.0 billion.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024. School year 2023-24. census.gov the data file

Spending per student over time

Maine: day-to-day spending per student, by fiscal year.

Not adjusted for inflation. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances, Table 20. summary tables

What Washington committed

Department of Education money committed for use in Maine in fiscal year 2025: $335 million. The programs below include money from Agriculture (school meals) and Health and Human Services (Head Start), and college aid (Pell).

Why this differs from the federal line above: that line is what Maine's schools received in the 2023-24 school year (Census). This one is what Washington committed in a later federal year, including college aid, which schools never receive.

Federal education programs in Maine, fiscal year 2025
Program	What it is	Maine	Share of the national total
Pell Grants	College grants to students with financial need	$108 million	0.3%
Special education (IDEA)	Grants to states for students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21	$66.2 million	0.5%
Title I	Grants to schools with many students from low-income families	$61.9 million	0.3%
Head Start	Early childhood programs (Department of Health and Human Services)	$51.1 million	0.4%
School lunch	National School Lunch Program (Department of Agriculture)	$51.0 million	0.2%
Title II, teachers	Supporting effective instruction: teacher and principal training	$10.8 million	0.5%
Federal Work-Study	Part-time jobs for college students with need	$8.1 million	0.7%
College opportunity grants (SEOG)	Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$7.0 million	0.8%
Career and technical education	Perkins basic grants to states	$7.0 million	0.5%
After school (21st Century)	21st Century Community Learning Centers	$6.8 million	0.5%
Title IV-A	Student support and academic enrichment grants	$6.7 million	0.5%
Impact Aid	Payments to districts with federal land or military families	$3.4 million	0.2%
Special education, preschool	Preschool grants for children with disabilities, ages 3 to 5	$2.8 million	0.7%
English learners (Title III)	English language acquisition grants	$1.0 million	0.1%

Source: USAspending.gov, U.S. Department of the Treasury. Federal fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025), money committed (obligated) by state where it is used. usaspending.gov

How is Maine spending the education lottery money?

State law limits the State Lottery Fund to prizes, lottery operating expenses and payments to the General Fund, the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund and, under a 2025 amendment, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Tick Laboratory Operations Fund; no share is set for education.

What the law says

"All other money, less reasonable costs for the proper administration of the State Lottery, shall be the State's share."

8 M.R.S. 387 legislature.maine.gov

Tickets sold$406 million p. 3
Prizes 69%$280 million p. 7
Retailers 7%$27.0 million p. 7
Running the lottery 2%$6.5 million p. 7
Sent to the state for its programs 20%$79.9 million p. 7
Other costs and reserves 3%$12.1 million tickets sold minus the rows above
Of what was sent to the state, to educationUnknown

What it paid for, FY2025

Payments made during the year. They include money earned in earlier years, so they do not add up to the year's total sent to education.

General Fund Transfer$79.2 million p. 7
Outdoor Heritage Fund Transfer$676,471 p. 7

Since 1974: $1.2 billion source to education in total.

Still being verified: to education.

Every school system in Maine

267 school systems reported to the Census Bureau for 2023-24. See each one's money in and money out.

See all 267 school systems

The record

School money: Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finances: Fiscal Year 2024, U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances. The district totals for Maine were added up and checked against the Census state table on seven totals. census.gov
Federal money: Federal education spending, fiscal year 2025 (October 2024 to September 2025). Money committed, by the state where it is used. usaspending.gov
Lottery: Annual Report of the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations, FY25 (as required by 8 M.R.S. 372 and 28-A M.R.S. 84), Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services, Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations (posted by the Maine Legislature), 2026-02-15. legislature.maine.gov
Lottery: 8 M.R.S. 387, State Lottery Fund; appropriation of money, Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes. legislature.maine.gov
Lottery: Where the Money Goes, Maine State Lottery. mainelottery.com
Checked November 2, 2026. How we track it · Report an error