Track Every Dollar

Oregon: every school dollar

Where Oregon'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$12.1 billion
Spent per student, day to day$18,083U.S.: $17,619
Students545,641216 school systems
Lottery money to educationNot yet verified

Where the money comes from

$12.1 billion in the 2023-24 school year. Select federal, state or local to see every line.

Federal 11%State 52%Local 38%

Federal $1.3 billion10.5%

All other federal money$673 million53.0%
School meals$204 million16.1%
Title I: schools with many low-income families$184 million14.5%
Special education (IDEA)$150 million11.8%
Teacher and principal training (Title II)$20.5 million1.6%
Student support and enrichment (Title IV-A)$11.4 million0.9%
Career and technical education$9.6 million0.8%
English learners (Title III)$9.2 million0.7%
Impact Aid$5.5 million0.4%
Rural schools$2.3 million0.2%
Indian, Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native education$1.0 millionunder 0.1%
After-school programs (21st Century)$128,000under 0.1%

Inside the federal total: $598 million of pandemic relief (ESSER and related funds), which ended in 2024.

State $6.3 billion51.8%

General formula aid$4.9 billion78.7%
All other state money$1.3 billion20.9%
Transportation$25.7 million0.4%
School meals$2.5 millionunder 0.1%

Local $4.6 billion37.7%

Property taxes$3.7 billion80.3%
Interest, rents, donations and other$599 million13.2%
From cities and counties$162 million3.6%
Tuition, fees, meals and other charges$134 million2.9%

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

$12.3 billion spent. Select support services for every line.

Teaching (instruction)$5.8 billion47.4%
Support services Details$4.1 billion33.6%
- Student support: attendance, guidance, health and psychological services$932 million22.6%
- Running and maintaining buildings$782 million18.9%
- Business office and central services$728 million17.6%
- School administration: principals' offices$627 million15.2%
- Student transportation$460 million11.1%
- Teacher support: curriculum, training, libraries$451 million10.9%
- District administration: the board and superintendent's office$151 million3.7%
Buildings and equipment Details$1.5 billion12.0%
Of this, construction: $1.3 billion.
Food service and other$305 million2.5%
Interest on debt$489 million4.0%
Community services and adult education$58.8 million0.5%
Payments to state and local governments$68,000under 0.1%

Inside these totals: $5.1 billion in salaries and wages, $2.9 billion in employee benefits. Long-term debt at year end: $10.0 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

Oregon: 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 Oregon in fiscal year 2025: $969 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 Oregon'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 Oregon, fiscal year 2025
Program	What it is	Oregon	Share of the national total
Pell Grants	College grants to students with financial need	$364 million	0.9%
School lunch	National School Lunch Program (Department of Agriculture)	$267 million	1.0%
Head Start	Early childhood programs (Department of Health and Human Services)	$172 million	1.5%
Title I	Grants to schools with many students from low-income families	$169 million	0.9%
Special education (IDEA)	Grants to states for students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21	$159 million	1.1%
Title II, teachers	Supporting effective instruction: teacher and principal training	$20.2 million	0.9%
Career and technical education	Perkins basic grants to states	$17.4 million	1.2%
Federal Work-Study	Part-time jobs for college students with need	$14.0 million	1.2%
Title IV-A	Student support and academic enrichment grants	$12.4 million	0.9%
After school (21st Century)	21st Century Community Learning Centers	$11.8 million	0.9%
College opportunity grants (SEOG)	Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$10.2 million	1.1%
English learners (Title III)	English language acquisition grants	$9.4 million	1.1%
Impact Aid	Payments to districts with federal land or military families	$4.2 million	0.3%
Special education, preschool	Preschool grants for children with disabilities, ages 3 to 5	$4.1 million	1.0%

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 Oregon spending the education lottery money?

Article XV, section 4 of the Oregon Constitution sends lottery net proceeds to a fund the Legislature appropriates for jobs, economic development, public education and parks, beaches, watersheds and native fish and wildlife, with fixed shares of 18% to the Education Stability Fund, 15% to the Parks and Natural Resources Fund and 1.5% to the Veterans' Services Fund. The lottery began in 1985.

What the law says

The promise: 18% of net proceeds to the Education Stability Fund (constitution). If that fund exceeds 5% of the prior biennium's General Fund revenue, deposits stop and 15% of net proceeds go to the school capital matching fund. By statute, the Outdoor School Education Fund receives the lesser of 4% of each quarter's lottery transfer or $5.5 million, not over $22 million a year (CPI-adjusted). No fixed share is set for the State School Fund; the Legislature allocates it each biennium.

"Effective July 1, 2003, 18% of the net proceeds from the State Lottery shall be deposited, from the fund created by the Legislative Assembly under this paragraph, in an education stability fund."

Or. Const. Art. XV, sec. 4(4)(d); Art. XV, sec. 4(5); Art. XV, sec. 4(8); Art. XV, sec. 4f; ORS 461.540 and 2017 c.2 sec. 2 (Outdoor School Education Fund) oregonlegislature.gov

Tickets sold$1.7 billion p. 23
Prizes 16%$275 million p. 23
Retailers 18%$306 million p. 23
Running the lotteryUnknown
Sent to the state for its programs 53%$887 million p. 29
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.

TRANSFER TO DEPT OF ED: State School Fund$639 million p. 1
TRANSFER TO ED STABILITY (BUD 096): 18% of Net Lottery Proceeds$333 million p. 1
TRANSFER TO HECC (Education Stability Fund interest income)$85.1 million p. 1
TRANSFER TO HECC: Outdoor School$36.4 million p. 1
TRANSFER TO HECC: Collegiate Athletics & Scholarships$18.3 million p. 1
Debt service: TRANSFER TO HECC: Universities/Community Colleges$43.5 million p. 1
Debt service: TRANSFER TO DEPT OF ED$3.2 million p. 1

What auditors found

"during our audit we did not identify any deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses."

Oregon Secretary of State, Audits Division, Independent Auditor’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and on Compliance and Other Matters (Oregon State Lottery, FY2025), 2025-11-21. records.sos.state.or.us

"The results of our tests disclosed no instances of noncompliance or other matters that are required to be reported under Government Auditing Standards."

Still being verified: running the lottery, to education.

Every school system in Oregon

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

See all 216 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 Oregon 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: Oregon State Lottery Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025, Oregon State Lottery (audited by Oregon Secretary of State Audits Division); hosted on Oregon Secretary of State records portal. records.sos.state.or.us
Lottery: State of Oregon Lottery Fund Transfers, 2023-25 Biennium (Lottery Master 23-25 LAB (2024 Session)), last modified 1/26/2026, Oregon Department of Administrative Services, 2026-01-26. oregon.gov
Lottery: Oregon Constitution, Article XV, Section 4 and Section 4f, Oregon State Legislature. oregonlegislature.gov
Lottery: ORS Chapter 461 (ORS 461.500, 461.540; Outdoor School Education Fund, 2017 c.2 sec. 2, compiled as note), Oregon State Legislature. oregonlegislature.gov
Lottery: Where the Money Goes, Oregon Lottery. oregonlottery.org
Lottery: Oregon Wins, Oregon Lottery. oregonlottery.org
Checked November 2, 2026. How we track it · Report an error