Government funding for primary and secondary education

Real growth in government funding for primary and secondary education has remained steady over the past decade. However, the recession cut tax revenues by dramatically increasing the unemployment rate, which shrinks the taxable citizen base. As a result, budget cuts were forced on all levels of government. The revenue slump significantly affected state and local governments because, unlike the federal government, they must balance their budgets annually. Coincidentally, state and local governments provide about 90.0% of primary and secondary education funding, so this caused growth in education funding to slow considerably after 2008. In fact, between 2010 and 2013, government spending on education declined moderately.

Although the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in 2020 strained the economy, a 1.73% increase in funding in 2020 as the government provided funding to help schools weather the pandemic. The advent of the reopening of the economy with the distribution of vaccines, which was helped by schools mandating the vaccine for their student populations, boosted the need for additional funding in the period to help districts operate in a higher capacity again. The resulting measures pushed Congress to pass bills like the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which expanded funding for schools that remained reopened or were in the process of reopening that needed additional support from the government because of having to endure more costs to accommodate more students on their premises better again. With these measures taken, funding went up by 0.8% in 2021 that represented the recovery process of many schools that were still dealing with the effects of the pandemic on their operations. The passing of the pandemic shaped much of the funding later on, with a lesser need for the assortment of pandemic-related support that was necessitated before. But, despite these factors, funding managed to stay very afloat, with no expected inclines happening soon, as funding for schools remains a less divisive issue for Congress. In turn, total funding is set to scale up in 2024 and 2025 with the passing of many appropriations bills designated to support various schools in the country.