Dearest reader,
Every once in a while, the ledger gives me a reason to clean my spectacles twice. 🧐📜
A reader reached out this morning and asked if I would take a look at Rudyard Area Schools.
So I did.
Same methodology.
Same ten-year window.
Same MDE Bulletin 1014.
Same inflation adjustment I have used for every other district.
And Rudyard did something I have not seen often in these ledgers:
Every major financial category in Step One remained positive after adjusting for inflation.
From 2014–15 to 2024–25, Rudyard's pupil count declined from 702.00 to 604.78, a decrease of 13.85%.
But look at what happened per pupil after accounting for approximately 35.83% cumulative inflation:
All Sources Revenue: +56.77%
Total Instruction: +35.82%
Instructional Support: +118.32%
Business & Administration: +20.75%
Operations & Maintenance: +59.20%
And then there is the number that really caught my attention.
Average teacher salary increased from $46,275 to $68,560.
That's a 48.16% nominal increase and, even after inflation, a +9.07% real increase in teacher salary.
That matters.
I've looked at a lot of districts using this exact same comparison, and teacher salaries frequently lose purchasing power over the decade even when the dollar amount on the paycheck gets larger.
Rudyard went the other direction.
Now, Step One doesn't tell us why. It doesn't tell us how staffing changed, what happened inside administration, or where every additional dollar ultimately went.
That's what the rest of the ledger is for.
But Lady Budgetdown isn't here only to circle numbers in red.
When the receipts show something worth recognizing, we circle that too.
And for Step One?
Rudyard has my attention.
Onward to the staffing ledger. 🪶
With receipts & respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #RudyardAreaSchools #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #TeacherPay #EducationFunding #PublicSchools #Transparency #Accountability #FollowTheNumbers #WithReceiptsAndRespect