Dearest reader,
The ledger has landed in Reed City Area Public Schools.
And as always, we begin in the same place: ten years of numbers.
From 2014-15 to 2024-25:
Enrollment fell from 1,569.00 pupils to 1,445.35.
That's 123.65 fewer students — a decline of 7.88%.
Meanwhile, per-pupil spending moved in the opposite direction:
All-sources revenue:
$8,869 → $14,942
+68.47% nominal
+24.03% after inflation
Total instruction:
$5,521 → $8,265
+49.70% nominal
+10.21% after inflation
Instructional support:
$417 → $1,267
+203.84% nominal
+123.69% after inflation
Business & administration:
$1,055 → $1,984
+88.06% nominal
+38.45% after inflation
Operations & maintenance:
$668 → $1,476
+120.96% nominal
+62.67% after inflation
And then there is teacher pay.
Average teacher salary:
$61,431 → $64,077
That's an increase of just $2,646, or 4.31% across ten years.
After adjusting for inflation?
Down 23.21%.
That does not mean increased spending in the other categories was unnecessary. Numbers alone cannot tell us that.
But they can tell us where the money moved.
Reed City has fewer students than it did ten years ago. Revenue per pupil is substantially higher. Support, administration, and operations spending per pupil all grew faster than inflation.
Average teacher salary did not.
That is why we start with the ledger.
Numbers tell us where we've been.
Receipts help us understand where we are.
Next, we follow the people.
With receipts and respect.
#LadyBudgetdown #ReedCity #ReedCityAreaPublicSchools #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #PublicEducation #EducationSpending #TeacherPay #SchoolTransparency #FollowTheMoney #WithReceiptsAndRespect