Dearest reader,
We are off to Southfield Public Schools for our next district workup.
And for Step 1, we are starting where we always do: ten years of enrollment, spending and teacher salary data.
From 2014-15 to 2024-25, Southfield's pupil FTE fell from 6,922.00 to 4,457.36.
That's a decline of 2,464.64 pupil FTE — or 35.61%.
Now let's follow the dollars.
Over that same decade:
All Sources Revenue per pupil
$13,763 → $23,453
+70.41% nominally
+25.45% after inflation
Total Instruction per pupil
$8,871 → $12,882
+45.21% nominally
+6.91% after inflation
Instructional Support per pupil
$1,730 → $3,109
+79.71% nominally
+32.30% after inflation
Business & Administration per pupil
$1,776 → $2,870
+61.60% nominally
+18.97% after inflation
Operations & Maintenance per pupil
$1,002 → $3,297
+229.04% nominally
+142.24% after inflation
And then there is average teacher salary.
$73,831 → $89,623
That's an increase of $15,792, or 21.39%, on paper.
After accounting for inflation?
It's actually down 10.63%.
That is why I keep doing these ten-year comparisons.
Southfield is serving 35.61% fewer pupil FTE than it was a decade ago. Revenue per pupil has grown faster than inflation. Operations and maintenance spending per pupil has more than tripled nominally and increased 142.24% after inflation.
Meanwhile, average teacher salary has not kept pace with inflation.
Those numbers don't tell us everything about a district — and they aren't supposed to.
They tell us where to look next.
And, dearest reader, we have five more steps to go.
With receipts and respect. 🪶
#LadyBudgetdown #SouthfieldPublicSchools #SouthfieldSchools #SchoolFinance #SchoolSpending #TeacherPay #PublicSchools #MichiganSchools #TaxpayerDollars #SchoolTransparency #WithReceiptsAndRespect