UNDERSTANDING THE 20TH-CENTURY GROWTH IN US SCHOOL SPENDING

Persistent increases in spending on elementary and secondary schools h ave gone virtually undocumented. Real expenditure per student increase d 31/2 percent per year over the period 1890-1990. Decomposition of th e spending growth shows that it resulted from a combination of falling pupil-staff ratios, increasing real wages to teachers, and rising exp enditure outside of the classroom. Although the expansion of education for the handicapped has had a disproportionate effect on spending, mo st of the growth in expenditure during the 1980s came from other sourc es. Significant teacher salary increases, particularly for females, ha ve failed to keep up with wages in other occupations.