Portland Public Schools spent $12,400 per student during 2015-16, putting Oregon's largest district among the Top 20 biggest spenders among large U.S. school districts, new federal figures show.
Portland's per-student spending ranked No. 18, barely behind that of Los Angeles and just ahead of Fresno and San Francisco, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, released Monday.
Among the nation's 100 largest school districts, New York City spent the most -- $24,100 per student -- and a cluster of four Utah district spent the least, just $6,200 to $7,000 per student. The largest of the four, Alpine School District just north of Provo, spent $6,300 per student, the bureau reported.
Portland's No. 18 ranking was driven in part by relatively high spending on pupil support services, which includes counseling, nurses, school psychologists and speech pathologists, and the high cost of employee benefits.
Almost half the districts that outspent Portland were in Maryland or Virginia, either in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., or in and around Baltimore. Those districts spent $13,200 to $15,500 per student.
In the West, only Seattle ($13,400) and Los Angeles ($13,200) spent more than Portland, the bureau reported.
The report detailed spending only in the nation's 100 largest school districts. Portland Public Schools ranked No. 100 by enrollment that year. No other Oregon district made the cut.
Eleven of the 12 California districts with enrollments larger than Portland spent less per student.
Here are the Top 20 spenders for 2015-16, according to the Census Bureau:
New York City $24,100
Boston $22,100
Howard County, Md. $15,500
Montgomery Co., Md. $15,200
Baltimore $15,200
Prince Georges Co, Md. $14,900
Columbus, Ohio $14,600
Fairfax County, Va. $14,000
Hawaii $13,800
Baltimore County $13,500
Atlanta $13,500
Chicago $13,500
Loudoun County, Va. $13,400
Seattle $13,400
Los Angeles $13,200
Anne Arundel Co., Md $13,200
Milwaukee $12,700
Portland $12,400
Fresno $12,300
Omaha $12,300
-- Betsy Hammond