Visualizations and explanations of New Mexico Kâ12 spending trends.
Created by Alma McKown at Think New Mexico using publicly available data.
Financial data is from the publicly available LESC database; 2024 is actual spending and 2026 is budgeted. Enrollment and demographic data are from the publicly available NMPED STARS database. 2022 enrollment is linked to 2024 spending and 2024 enrollment is linked to 2026 spending. 'District-level services' includes LESC categories such as 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level services' includes LESC categories such as 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
The 2018 Yazzie/Martinez lawsuit named four demographic categories that are underserved in New Mexico: students with disabilities, low-income students, English Language Learners (ELL) and Native American students. Since 2018 our state has increased funding for these groups. Districts receive a dollar amount per-student through our state's School Equalization Guarantee (SEG). Through this formula, low-income students receive up to 40% more, English Language Learners up to 30% more, students with disabilities may generate up to twice as much funding and Native American students receive additional funding through New Mexico's Indian Education Act. Even before the substantial increases to these SEG multipliers, the Legislative Finance Committee found that allocations for Yazzie/Martinez students through the SEG placed the state above the inflation-adjusted funding recommended in the Yazzie/Martinez court case. Districts are receiving the money they need to support Yazzie/Martinez students. Because of the SEG multipliers, districts with higher percentages of Yazzie/Martinez students receive more money. Districts that receive more money from the state for these students should be spending more on student instruction as you can see in the charts below. That is not the case. Nor is it the case that districts receiving more funds for Yazzie/Martinez students are spending more on district-level administration. Correlation tests show no relationship between the percentage of Yazzie/Martinez students in a district and per-pupil spending either on school-level instruction or district-level administration. Data masking limited the analysis because small districts and schools do not publicly report exact demographic data. Masked observations appear stacked in vertical columns in the charts below. Even with masking there is no relationship between higher Yazzie/Martinez populations and education spending.
Shows the percent of a district that falls into Yazzie/Martinez subgroups and the dollars per-pupil that the district spent on school-level instruction and district-level administration for all school districts in NM. Hover over a district to see its details.
Shows the percent of a district that falls into Yazzie/Martinez subgroups and the percent of the district's overall budget dedicated to school-level instruction and district-level administration for all school districts in NM. Hover over a district to see its details.
Shows the dollars per-pupil spent at the school level for all 50 states and compares this to overall state education quality. Shows which states have Dollars to the Classroom legislation meant to increase per-pupil instructional spending. Spending and enrollment data come from the most recently available NECS, 2021. Data for School System Rank comes from WalletHub, 2021. 'Instructional Dollars' or 'School-Level' spending include NECS categories of 'instruction', 'student support', 'instructional staff' and 'school administration'.
Shows the dollars per-pupil spent on district administration and central services for all 50 states and compares this to overall state education quality. Shows which states have Dollars to the Classroom legislation meant to decrease per-pupil administrative spending. Spending and enrollment data come from the most recently available NECS, 2021. Data for School System Rank comes from WalletHub, 2021. District administrative spending includes NECS categories of 'general administration' and 'other support services'.
Shows the percent of state education spending dedicated to the school level and compares this to overall state education quality. Shows which states have Dollars to the Classroom legislation meant to increase the percent of the budget used for instruction. Spending and enrollment data come from the most recently available NECS, 2021. Data for School System Rank comes from WalletHub, 2021. 'Instructional Dollars' or 'School-Level' spending include NECS categories of 'instruction', 'student support', 'instructional staff' and 'school administration'.
Shows the percent of state education spending dedicated to district administration and central services for all 50 states and compares this to overall state education quality. Shows which states have Dollars to the Classroom legislation meant to decrease per-pupil administrative spending. Spending and enrollment data come from the most recently available NECS, 2021. Data for School System Rank comes from WalletHub, 2021. District administrative spending includes NECS categories of 'general administration' and 'other support services'.
This plot shows the average (mean) spending of major expense categories across all districts in New Mexico. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database; 2024 is actual spending and 2026 is budgeted. 'District-level services' includes LESC categories of 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level services' includes LESC categories of 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
This plot shows the average (mean) per-pupil expenditures of major expense categories across all districts in New Mexico. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database; 2024 is actual spending and 2026 is budgeted. Enrollment data are from the publicly available NMPED STARS database. 2022 enrollment is linked to 2024 spending and 2024 enrollment is linked to 2026 spending. 'District-level services' includes LESC categories of 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level services' includes LESC categories of 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
This plot shows the average (mean) percent of the total budget expended in major expense categories across all districts in New Mexico. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database; 2024 is actual spending and 2026 is budgeted. 'District-level services' includes LESC categories of 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level services' includes LESC categories of 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
These plots show changes in spending between 2024 and 2026 for major expense categories for each district. Double click your school district in the legend to see it by itself. Double click again to return to all districts. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database; 2024 is actual spending and 2026 is budgeted. Enrollment data used to calculate per-pupil spending are from the publicly available NMPED STARS database. 2022 enrollment is linked to 2024 spending and 2024 enrollment is linked to 2026 spending. 'District-level spending' includes LESC categories of 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level spending' or 'instructional spending' includes LESC categories of 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
These charts show how the relative importance of these spending categories changed for each district.
These charts show how the dollars per-pupil spent in major spending categories changed for each district. Operations and maintenance are not available.
These spreadsheets show the top and bottom 10 districts on various measures in 2026. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database. Enrollment data used to calculate per-pupil spending are from the publicly available NMPED STARS database. 2024 enrollment is linked to 2026 spending. 'District-level spending' includes LESC categories of 'central services' and 'supports-general administration'. 'School-level spending' or 'instructional spending' includes LESC categories of 'instruction', 'supports-students', 'supports-instruction' and 'supports-school administration'.
The top and bottom 10 districts, as well as the median and mean, for the percent of the total budget dedicated to school-level instruction, district-level administration, operations and maintenance and school administration are available below.
The top and bottom 10 districts (and median and mean) for per-pupil school-level instruction spending and district-level administration spending.
The top and bottom 10 districts (and median and mean) with the greatest change in the percent of their budget dedicated to school-level instruction or district-level administration between 2024 and 2026.
The full data sets analyzed by Think New Mexico can be found here. Financial data are from the publicly available LESC database. Enrollment data used to calculate per-pupil spending are from the publicly available NMPED STARS database. 2024 enrollment is linked to 2026 spending.