If there’s one thing that proves the government education racket is a total scam, it’s this: We’re dumping more cash than ever into public schools, but the classrooms are emptying out like a bad party after the cops show up. Enrollment’s tanking, test scores are in the toilet, and yet the bureaucrats keep demanding—and getting—fatter budgets. This isn’t education; it’s a taxpayer-funded boondoggle that’s failing our kids and enriching the wrong people. America First means putting our children ahead of the unions and administrators who treat schools like their personal ATM. Time for a deep dive into this mess, and yeah, it can be fixed—if we grow a spine and demand real accountability.
The Enrollment Exodus: Fewer Kids, Same Old Song
Public school enrollment peaked at 50.8 million kids back in fall 2019, right before the COVID clown show shut everything down. By fall 2022, it had dipped to 49.6 million—a drop of over a million students. Fast forward to the 2023-2024 school year, and we’re looking at 48.9 million enrolled, down another 0.2% from the year before. Projections from the bean counters say it’ll keep sliding, hitting 46.9 million by 2031. That’s a 5% nosedive from 2022 levels.
This isn’t some fluke. Thirty-nine states saw enrollment crater between 2020 and 2023, with Hawaii leading the pack at a 6% loss. Idaho and North Dakota bucked the trend with 2% gains, but they’re the exceptions. Nationwide, we’ve lost about 750,000 students since 2014. Why? Demographics—fewer babies being born—plus parents waking up to the failures and yanking their kids into homeschooling, private schools, or charters. Homeschooling exploded during the pandemic and is still 50% above pre-COVID trends in places like Massachusetts. Private enrollment stabilized after years of decline and is now 16% higher than expected. Parents are voting with their feet, and the public system is bleeding bodies.
Spending Skyrockets: From Bad to Worse
While kids bail, the money keeps rolling in. Total public K-12 spending hit $927 billion in the 2020-2021 school year (adjusted for inflation to 2022-2023 dollars). By fiscal year 2023, per-pupil spending averaged $16,526, and it’s climbing. Projections for 2023-2024 peg it at $16,722 per kid. Nationally, we’re nearing $1 trillion in annual outlays—a 35.8% jump from 2002 to 2023, when per-student funding (inflation-adjusted) went from $14,969 to $20,322.
Post-pandemic? Funding spiked 8.6% from 2020 to 2023, adding $1,610 per student. California led the charge with a 31.5% hike, from $19,724 to $25,941 per kid. New York tops the list at $36,976 per student, with New Jersey at $30,267. Even low-spenders like Mississippi jacked it up from $9,190 in 2019-2020 to $12,998 in 2025. But here’s the rub: Much of that surge—about $1,181 per student—came from $190 billion in federal COVID relief. Non-federal bucks only rose $429 per kid, a slowdown from pre-pandemic growth.
The US spends $794.7 billion on education annually. That’s just shy of $20k per student (K-12).
Yet a mom with a mail order catalog and $300 worth of curriculum can vastly outperform the public education system.
PublicEd Inc. is a racket. Yet many of you still worship it.
— Eric Conn (@Eric_Conn) September 27, 2023
Looking ahead to 2025-2026 and 2026-2027, per-pupil spending might stay flat nominally, but with inflation at 3%, that’s a real-dollar decline. Worst case? A recession could shave off 2.5% in 2026-2027. Best case? It grows 3%, but inflation eats it anyway. The gravy train’s slowing, but after years of bloat, it’s still way too fat.
Where the Hell Is All This Money Going?
Break it down, and you’ll see why the system’s broken. In 2020-2021, total expenditures per pupil hit $18,614. Current spending—day-to-day stuff like salaries, benefits, services, and supplies—ate up $16,280, or 87%. Capital outlay (buildings, renovations) grabbed 10%, and debt interest took 3%.
Drill deeper: Salaries and benefits for staff? That’s 79% of current expenditures. Instructional salaries alone were $266.4 billion in fiscal 2022, 31.1% of total spending. Instruction overall? 59.8% of current costs. Support services—like admin, maintenance, transportation—sucked up 35.4%.
But the real story is the explosion in benefits. From 2002 to 2023, employee benefits spending (pensions, health insurance) ballooned 81.1% per student, from $2,221 to $4,022. Salaries? A measly 7.7% bump to $9,098. For every dollar added to salaries, benefits gobbled $3.27. States like Hawaii (194.1% increase), Vermont (171.3%), and Illinois (169.9%) are poster children for this pension pig-out.
Staffing’s another black hole. Despite losing 750,000 students since 2014, public schools added over 600,000 employees. Non-teaching staff—admins, counselors, aides—grew fastest, even as enrollment tanked. Teacher salaries hit $72,030 on average in 2024, up 26.9% from 2015-2016, but that’s still chasing inflation while benefits soar.
Inflation’s jacking everything else: Health insurance, utilities, buses, food, supplies—all up. Mental health services, special ed (which now covers more kids), and catching up on pandemic learning losses add more. Federal funds propped it up, but now they’re gone, leaving districts with bloated payrolls and aging buildings needing fixes.
Spending in general (states and localities still make up 90% of edu spending) has gone up by 192% since the 1970s. This chart should give you an idea of how well “moar spending” has worked.
Time for #schoolchoice. pic.twitter.com/Ty7Hwgr9io
— Inez Stepman ⚪️🔴⚪️ (@InezFeltscher) April 11, 2019
The Root Rot: Bureaucracy, Unions, and Bad Choices
Why spend more with fewer kids? Simple: The system’s rigged. Many state funding formulas don’t tie dollars strictly to headcounts—local property taxes stay steady or rise, padding the pot. Federal aid doesn’t drop proportionally. Unions push for raises and gold-plated benefits, turning schools into jobs programs. Politicians throw money at problems instead of fixing them, like the $190 billion COVID windfall that funded hires we can’t sustain.
Demographics play a part—fewer kids means higher per-pupil costs if you don’t cut staff. But instead of rightsizing, districts hire more admins and specialists. In high-income areas, losses are worst—6% down in top districts, with no recovery—because parents can afford alternatives. Low-income spots are only 1% off, but overall, it’s a system rewarding failure.
Test scores? Only a third of kids proficient in reading nationwide. Math’s worse. Spending’s up, results down. It’s not underinvestment; it’s misinvestment.
Fixing the Fraud: America First Means School Choice Now
This mess isn’t inevitable. With enrollment projected to drop 5.3% from 2024 to 2032, school closures are coming—Boston, Houston, Seattle, Oakland. But we need more: Tie funding to kids, not buildings. Expand school choice—vouchers, charters, tax credits—so money follows the student. Slash admin bloat, cap benefits, and focus on basics: Reading, math, history without the woke nonsense.
Parents are already fleeing—homeschooling up, privates stabilizing. Make it easier for them. Fire underperformers, reward winners. Taxpayers deserve bang for their buck, and kids deserve real education. The era of endless spending hikes is ending—economic uncertainty, competition from choice, homeschool boom. Good. Time to drain the swamp and put America’s future first. Our kids aren’t guinea pigs for bureaucrats; they’re the next generation of winners. Let’s act like it.