Dearest Readers,
Today's financial snapshot takes us to Swartz Creek Community Schools (25180) in Genesee County, where we're comparing Michigan Department of Education financial data from 2014–15 to 2024–25.
Over those ten years, Swartz Creek's pupil count declined from 3,948 to 3,461.95 FTE — a decrease of 12.3%.
At the same time, total funding per pupil increased 54.8%, from $9,213 to $14,265.
But, as always, the more interesting question is where spending changed.
📚 Total Instruction — Per Pupil
$5,780 → $7,569
Up 31.0%
📝 Instructional Support — Per Pupil
$908 → $1,823
Up 100.8%
🏛� Business & Administration — Per Pupil
$1,132 → $1,806
Up 59.5%
🔧 Operations & Maintenance — Per Pupil
$754 → $1,205
Up 59.8%
🍎 Average Teacher Salary
$60,346 → $71,435
Up 18.4%
For additional context, cumulative inflation over the comparison period was approximately 35.83%.
That means total funding per pupil grew about 19 percentage points above inflation. Instructional support, business and administration, and operations and maintenance also increased faster than inflation.
Meanwhile, total instruction per pupil increased 31.0%, about 4.8 points below inflation, and average teacher salary increased 18.4%, about 17.4 points below inflation.
None of those numbers, standing alone, tells us whether spending is good or bad. They do, however, show how the financial structure of a district changed while serving fewer pupils.
And that is precisely why looking beyond the headline number matters.
Source: Michigan Department of Education, Financial Data 2014–15 and 2024–25.
Data compiled and visualized by Lady Budgetdown using publicly available records.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #SwartzCreekSchools #GeneseeCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #FollowTheNumbers