Understanding New Mexico’s per-pupil spending numbers

Recently released state data on school spending per student shows an expenditure of $21,855.31 per pupil in the Socorro Consolidated Schools District, $29,053.92 per pupil in the Magdalena Municipal Schools District, and a statewide average of about $18,000 for the 2024–2025 school year. The report card, released by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), has raised questions among parents and community members about how the figures were calculated and what they actually represent.

“This is one figure that reports a lot of complexity,” said David Windham, chief statistician for PED. “A large range of what districts do is captured, but not everything.”

Those numbers, Windham said, are intended to provide a broad snapshot of how education dollars are spent, but they should be read with care.

Each year, school districts and charter schools across the state submit detailed budget information to PED through the Operating Budget Management System. That data includes expenditures for personnel, transportation, routine maintenance, classroom materials and other day-to-day costs required to run schools. Large one-time expenses, such as building construction or major capital projects, are not included, according to Windham.

The reporting itself is not new. Per-pupil expenditure data has been required under federal law since the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Windham said. States must report how much is spent per student using local, state and federal funds, broken down into personnel and non-personnel costs.

The purpose of the requirement, Windham explained, is tied to civil rights enforcement. By comparing spending levels across schools and districts, state and federal officials can look for potential inequities in how educational resources are distributed.

“If there were really dramatic differences in per-pupil expenditures, that might suggest resources were being unfairly distributed,” Windham said, adding that spending differences alone do not automatically indicate mismanagement or discrimination, but can simply reflect the size of student bodies.

Socorro Consolidated Schools Superintendent Joyce Gormley said the numbers can be difficult to interpret without understanding how funding is calculated.

“I have to be honest — I’m really not exactly sure how they calculated it,” she said. “We tried to back into it by dividing by our student count, and it didn’t really make sense. Depending on what you include, the number can look too low or too high.”

She explained that the district receives funding from multiple sources, including the state equalization guarantee (SEG) and several federal programs, such as Title I and IDEA-B, which support special education services.

“If you look at all the grants we’ve received, the per-pupil number is probably low,” she said. “If you’re looking at just the state equalization grant, it’s too high. It really depends on what’s being counted.”

One common reason for higher per-student costs, particularly in rural districts, is school size. Smaller schools often have higher per-pupil expenditures because many expenses are fixed regardless of enrollment.

“It takes a lot to run a small school,” Gromley said. “Even with 60 kids, you still need a principal, office staff, custodial and kitchen staff. Those costs don’t disappear just because enrollment is small.”

Windham echoed that explanation at the state level.

“Some of those costs are built in,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how many students you have — the cost of fixing the HVAC system is still the cost of fixing the HVAC system.”

This year’s data also comes with an important caveat. PED adjusted how it reports district-level expenditures that benefit all schools, such as shared services or online learning platforms. Those costs are now reported only at the district level, rather than distributed among individual schools.

“At first glance, it doesn’t make sense,” Windham said. “How can the district average be higher than every school? That’s because some expenditures are captured only at the district level.”

For example, Socorro High School reported a per-pupil expenditure of about $14,000, while Magdalena High School reported approximately $16,000 per pupil — both lower than their respective district averages.

Rather than focusing on a single dollar figure, Gormley said the district is more concerned with whether spending aligns with student needs.

“I don’t have a target number for how much we should spend per student,” she said. “My bigger concern is whether we’re putting money where the greatest needs are, especially for students who have historically been underserved.”

That includes additional support for multilingual learners, special education programs and schools with higher concentrations of students with disabilities.

“Basically, you get the money you get, and you have to make it work,” she said. “The question is whether we’re being equitable and intentional about how those dollars are used.”

For parents and community members, Windham said the data is best viewed as a starting point for conversation rather than a definitive judgment.

“These figures are something for communities to think about,” he said. “They can help raise questions about whether schools are being adequately resourced, but they need context to be understood properly.”