Track Every Dollar

Rhode Island: every school dollar

Where Rhode Island'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$3.1 billion
Spent per student, day to day$22,110U.S.: $17,619
Students122,12839 school systems
Lottery money to educationLottery money goes to other purposes

Where the money comes from

$3.1 billion in the 2023-24 school year. Select federal, state or local to see every line.

Federal 13%State 40%Local 47%

Federal $394 million12.7%

All other federal money$225 million57.0%
Title I: schools with many low-income families$54.7 million13.9%
Special education (IDEA)$46.2 million11.7%
School meals$41.4 million10.5%
Teacher and principal training (Title II)$10.0 million2.5%
Career and technical education$6.1 million1.6%
Impact Aid$3.6 million0.9%
Student support and enrichment (Title IV-A)$3.2 million0.8%
English learners (Title III)$2.3 million0.6%
After-school programs (21st Century)$2.1 million0.5%

Inside the federal total: $178 million of pandemic relief (ESSER and related funds), which ended in 2024.

State $1.2 billion40.3%

General formula aid$999 million79.9%
Paid by the state for the district (benefits and other costs)$122 million9.8%
Buildings and debt payments$94.9 million7.6%
Bilingual education$16.3 million1.3%
All other state money$10.1 million0.8%
Career and technical education$3.9 million0.3%
School meals$3.1 million0.2%

Local $1.5 billion47.1%

From the parent city or county government$1.3 billion86.9%
Property taxes$132 million9.0%
Tuition, fees, meals and other charges$39.0 million2.7%
Interest, rents, donations and other$17.5 million1.2%
From cities and counties$2.3 million0.2%

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

$3.2 billion spent. Select support services for every line.

Teaching (instruction)$1.7 billion52.7%
Support services Details$1.1 billion35.1%
- Student support: attendance, guidance, health and psychological services$339 million30.3%
- Running and maintaining buildings$205 million18.4%
- Student transportation$129 million11.6%
- Teacher support: curriculum, training, libraries$128 million11.5%
- School administration: principals' offices$123 million11.0%
- Business office and central services$109 million9.8%
- District administration: the board and superintendent's office$43.1 million3.9%
- Other support services and benefits paid by the state$40.6 million3.6%
Buildings and equipment Details$197 million6.2%
Of this, construction: $52.4 million.
Food service and other$71.9 million2.3%
Interest on debt$49.3 million1.5%
Community services and adult education$69.3 million2.2%
Payments to state and local governments$463,000under 0.1%

Inside these totals: $1.5 billion in salaries and wages, $596 million in employee benefits. Long-term debt at year end: $1.2 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

Rhode Island: 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 Rhode Island in fiscal year 2025: $349 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 Rhode Island'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 Rhode Island, fiscal year 2025
Program	What it is	Rhode Island	Share of the national total
Pell Grants	College grants to students with financial need	$135 million	0.3%
Title I	Grants to schools with many students from low-income families	$59.6 million	0.3%
Special education (IDEA)	Grants to states for students with disabilities, ages 3 to 21	$51.8 million	0.4%
School lunch	National School Lunch Program (Department of Agriculture)	$51.7 million	0.2%
Head Start	Early childhood programs (Department of Health and Human Services)	$39.3 million	0.3%
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	$8.4 million	0.7%
Career and technical education	Perkins basic grants to states	$7.0 million	0.5%
Title IV-A	Student support and academic enrichment grants	$6.9 million	0.5%
After school (21st Century)	21st Century Community Learning Centers	$6.6 million	0.5%
College opportunity grants (SEOG)	Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants	$5.3 million	0.6%
English learners (Title III)	English language acquisition grants	$2.8 million	0.3%
Impact Aid	Payments to districts with federal land or military families	$2.1 million	0.1%
Special education, preschool	Preschool grants for children with disabilities, ages 3 to 5	$1.7 million	0.4%

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 Rhode Island spending the education lottery money?

State law sends all lottery revenue remaining after prizes and expenses to the state general revenue fund; no share is set aside for education.

What the law says

"Payment into the general revenue fund of all revenues remaining in the state lottery fund after the payments specified in subsections (a)(1) — (a)(2) of this section."

R.I. Gen. Laws 42-61-15 webserver.rilegislature.gov

Tickets sold$1.5 billion p. 13
Prizes 43%$636 million p. 24
Retailers 1%$12.7 million p. 25
Running the lottery 1%$18.9 million p. 13
Sent to the state for its programs 29%$434 million p. 24
Other costs and reserves 25%$369 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.

State's General Fund$434 million p. 24

What auditors found

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

Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General, Independent Auditor's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting and on Compliance, Rhode Island Lottery, fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, 2025-10-20. oag.ri.gov

Still being verified: to education.

Every school system in Rhode Island

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

See all 39 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 Rhode Island 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: Rhode Island Lottery Financial Statements, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025, Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General, 2025-10-22. oag.ri.gov
Lottery: Audit Summary: Rhode Island Lottery, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025, Rhode Island Office of the Auditor General, 2025-10-22. oag.ri.gov
Lottery: R.I. Gen. Laws 42-61-15, State lottery fund, Rhode Island General Assembly. webserver.rilegislature.gov
Checked November 2, 2026. How we track it · Report an error