Public education remains the top spending priority for state
dollars in the current budget, accounting for 41.5 percent of
all state General Revenue spending. Public education is the
single-largest spending category of state dollars, by more than
$10 billion. Over the last ten years, total education spending –
including federal, state and local funds – has nearly doubled,
growing faster than enrollment growth and inflation, according
to a report by the Comptroller of Public Accounts. In addition
to the increases in direct expenditures, school debt is
approaching crisis levels: currently, taxpayers owe $63.6
billion in public school bond debt, which amounts to $13,530 for
every student in a school with debt. By comparison, 2011 public
education expenditures per pupil total $11,218. According to the
Comptroller, from 2001 to 2011, public school districts' total
debt outstanding rose by 155.2 percent, far more than the
increase in inflation (26.5 percent) and enrollment growth (21
percent). Teachers and students