Dearest reader,
Today, Lady B's ledger takes us to Fowlerville Community Schools in Livingston County.
📚 STEP 1: A DECADE OF DOLLARS
What changed between the 2014–15 and 2024–25 school years?
Let's follow the receipts. 🔎
📉 STUDENT ENROLLMENT
In 2014–15, Fowlerville reported 2,862 students.
By 2024–25, that number had fallen to 2,389.66.
That's a 16.50% decline in enrollment over ten years.
💰 REVENUE PER STUDENT
During that same period, total revenue from all sources increased from $8,585 to $14,868 per pupil.
That's a 73.19% increase, or 28.12% after adjusting for inflation.
And where did the spending increases occur?
📊 THE TEN-YEAR COMPARISON
• Total Instruction: +60.94%
• Instructional Support: +70.98%
• Business & Administration: +66.60%
• Operations & Maintenance: +96.48%
Those are the nominal increases. Even after adjusting for inflation, every category above experienced growth.
🍎 NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT TEACHERS.
In 2014–15, Fowlerville's average teacher salary was $60,296.
Ten years later? $61,206.
That's an increase of just $910 over an entire decade.
A whopping 1.51%.
But here's the part that deserves attention.
After adjusting for inflation, the average teacher salary actually LOST 24.90% of its purchasing power.
Think about that.
Revenue per student increased 73.19%, yet the average teacher salary barely moved.
Does that mean the district did something wrong? Not necessarily. Revenue and expenditures cover many responsibilities beyond teacher salaries.
But it certainly raises a question worth asking.
💬 When school funding grows substantially over a decade, how much of that growth should make its way into the classroom and into the paychecks of the educators working directly with students?
Lady B isn't here to tell you what to think.
I'm here to put the numbers on the table so you can decide what questions deserve answers.
All figures come from Michigan Department of Education Bulletin 1014, comparing the same two fiscal years used throughout my statewide research.
With receipts and respect. 💙
#LadyBudgetdown #FowlervilleCommunitySchools #LivingstonCounty #MichiganSchools #SchoolFinance #EducationTransparency #PublicEducation #TeacherPay #TaxpayerAccountability #FollowTheReceipts