The Census Bureau seeks public comment on “an extension of approval for the Annual Survey of School System Finances” by August 31, 2025. “The FY 2025 survey content is unchanged from what was collected during the FYs 2022-2024 survey cycles.”
The Annual Survey of School System Finances, cosponsored by and coordinated with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “is a comprehensive source of prekindergarten through 12th grade public elementary-secondary school system finance data collected on a nationwide scale. This survey and the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances (OMB No. 0607-0585) are conducted as part of the Census Bureau’s State and Local Government Finance program. Data collected from cities, counties, states, and special district governments are combined with data collected from local school systems to produce state and national totals of government spending. Local school system spending comprises a significant portion of total government spending. In 2022, public elementary-secondary expenditures accounted for 36 percent of local government spending. This comprehensive and ongoing time series collection of school district finances maintains historical continuity in the state and local government statistics community.”
The FRN notes that, “Education finance statistics provided by the Census Bureau allow for analyses of how public elementary-secondary school systems receive and spend funds. Uniform and comparable data on resources and spending patterns help states measure the effectiveness of resource allocation. The products of this data collection make it possible for data users to obtain information on statistics such as per pupil expenditures, the proportion of spending that goes to instruction and support services, and the percent of state, local, and federal funding for each school system. State legislatures, local leaders, academia, and parents increasingly rely on data to make substantive decisions about education.”
- Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Annual Survey of School System Finances https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/01/2025-14603/agency-information-collection-activities-submission-to-the-office-of-management-and-budget-omb-for
