School Based Expenditure Reports

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The final School Based Expenditure Report (SBER) for 2018 is available. The FY 2018 System-Wide Report is the report of final DOE expenses. The summary, district level, and school data are provided along with the FY 2018 School-Based Expenditure Overview. Reports displaying the apportionment of expenses to SBER functional category, categorical program detail, type of student, where funds are controlled within the department, school level of the students, district/superintendent, percent of functional category spent by each district, and type of funding are posted.

FY 2018 began on July 1, 2017 and ended on June 30, 2018. The financial data used in the FY 2018 System-Wide Report represents the DOE’s 2018 year-end audited spending condition. In addition to using the audited school registers as of October 31, 2017 for pupil counts, pupil enrollment data has been refined to count students with disabilities with Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for specialized classroom instruction based on their program recommendations as of December 31, 2017.

FY 2018 SBER Spending SummaryAmount
Spending By or On Behalf of NYC Public, Charter, and Non-Public School$25,144,008,768
Debt Service$2,341,257,382
City Pension Contributions$3,926,928,122
Medicare Part B Reimbursement$150,020,990
Stabilization Fund$12,499,858
Total (Revenue and expense estimates reflect the November 2019 Financial Plan.)$31,574,715,120

Final Reports: School Year 2017 - 2018 Expenditures

What is the School-Based Expenditure Report (SBER)?

The DOE publishes an annual SBER which estimates per-pupil spending based on all DOE expenditures in a given fiscal year.

The SBER provides several ways of looking at the distribution of annual expenditures at the DOE, including:

  • By purpose or function; e.g., amounts for classroom instruction, textbooks, instructional supplies, or administration;
  • By district, and system-wide levels;
  • By student service type (general education versus special education); and
  • By source, including city funds, state operating aid, and federal or private grants.

Categories of spending are classified according to the following "buckets:"

  • Direct Services to Schools : Services provided directly to public school students which take place primarily in the school building during the school day and school year. As noted above, these direct-to-school services include food, transportation and facilities not paid for out of a school’s own Galaxy budget.
  • Central Support Costs : Dollars spent to support system-wide support functions and obligations not directly associated with any specific district or school. This includes School Support Organizations, Integrated Service Centers, Children First Networks and the Citywide Special Education district office, as well as functions including enrollment, payroll, human resources, etc.
  • System-Wide Obligations : Non-administrative costs including debt service and pension contributions for DOE employees.
  • Pass-Throughs: Funds administered by the DOE for children who are served in non-public schools (general and special education), charter schools and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Accessing School-Based Expenditure Reports

  • Search by individual school: On the FY 2018 landing page, enter a school’s BN (e.g., M015) into the box labeled "School:" or enter a school's name in search box labeled “Search:”
  • View estimated citywide summary reports: On the FY 2018 landing page, there is a series of report tabs across the top of the SBER data table.
    1. By total dollars: Displays the estimated expenditures for the entire school system by major functional category. It is the sum total of all school expenditures, field and central offices expenditures, and pass-through funds not directly benefiting public school students. The estimated expenditures are categorized into five (5) major functions: Direct Services to Schools, Field Support Costs, System-wide Costs, System-wide Obligations, and Pass-Throughs, each of which is listed on the left side of the report along with sub-functions.

      Report Column
      • Total
        • Total estimated expenditures for each function category
      • Percent of Total Expenditure
        • The percent of the total estimated expenditures (including pass-through expenditures) for each function (i.e., the amount for an individual function divided by the total of all expenditures)
      • Percent of Public Expenditure
        • The percent of the total estimated public school expenditures represented by each function (i.e., the amount for an individual function divided by the amount listed as “Subtotal Public Schools”)
      • Per Capita
        • The estimated dollars expended for each student (i.e., dollars expended divided by total enrollment shown at the top of the page)
      The estimated expenditure is also further broken down by Personnel Services (PS) and Other than Personnel Service (OTPS)

      Report Column
      • Salary
        • The salary portion of the estimated expenditures
      • Fringe
        • The fringe portion of the estimated expenditures
      • Fringe + Salary
        • The PS total of all estimated personal expenditures (including per session and per diem payments) plus fringe benefits and represents the total employee expenditures for each category
      • Other than Personnel Service (OTPS)
        • The OTPS total of all estimated expenditures
    2. By student type: Estimated per capita expenditures on general education versus special education students
    3. By instruction level: Estimated per capita expenditures by school type (Elementary, Middle and High Schools, and Citywide Special Education/D75).
    4. By DOE account: Estimated per capita expenditures by “spending authority.” “Spending authority” is the entity that controls the dollars being spent-schools versus central.
    5. By funding source: Estimated per capita expenditures by fund type: city funds/state operating aid versus federal, state and other categorical (i.e., restricted) aid.

  • View estimated expenditures across districts or all schools within a district: On the FY 2018 landing page, click District Overview at the top of the page. You will now see a series of tabs across the top of the SBER data table as you did for the citywide summary reports. To view schools within a district, type the district (e.g. 01) after the district label and click "Go."

  • Estimated school expenditures, grouped by district, are also available as a PDF report: On the FY 2018 landing page, click Memoranda & Reports.

Prior Year School-Based Expenditure Reports

Differences Among Districts and Schools

Differences in expenditure amounts per student among schools, districts and boroughs are caused by many factors. Concentrations and intensity of student needs differ among schools, districts, and boroughs, based on the associated costs. Some of the major causes for these differences are outlined below.

  1. Size and composition of the population of students with disabilities: Schools with a high percentage of students with disabilities enrolled, and/or a high percentage of students with more intensive needs (restrictive class settings, related services, etc.) will result in those schools having a higher overall per student expenditure per capita.
  2. Eligibility for Federal and State non-competitive funds: Schools with high concentrations of the following types of students may be eligible for more categorical funding than other schools, resulting in higher per student expenditures: students in poverty, with large limited English language proficient populations, large immigrant populations, or low academic performance.
  3. Schools with high enrollment relative to building capacity: These schools may require additional services such as education paraprofessionals, safety officers or leases, thereby increasing per student costs.
  4. Schools with low enrollment relative to capacity: Such schools may have small classes, which results in higher per student costs since fixed costs are spread across fewer students.
  5. Number of school buildings and size of enrollment: Fixed costs spread over high enrollments will produce lower per student amounts than when spread over lower enrollments. Schools may have unique building configurations, including annexes, distinctive footprints, and elevator services for students with disabilities which would necessitate specific staffing needs, and associated costs, driving additional spending per pupil. Distribution of schools with plant specific costs differs among districts and boroughs.
  6. Success in obtaining competitive grants: All other things being equal, a school that is more successful in obtaining grants will have a larger per capita than other schools. The distribution of schools receiving competitive grants differs within districts and boroughs by year.
  7. Geographic and programmatic variables affecting transportation costs: The existence of magnet programs or barrier-free buildings that draw students from outside of the neighborhood, or concentrations of physically disabled students that require special busing will increase transportation costs.
  8. Special and pilot programs: Programs such as after-school, gifted or inclusion programs in selected schools will result in higher per pupil costs.
  9. Pre-K for All: The size and location of Pre-K for All programs (formerly known as “Universal Pre-K”) may either lower or raise the per capita expenditures since pre-k students are funded at a lower class-size, but generally have less special needs than pupils in other instructional levels.
  10. Itinerant staff charged to one school location: Where schools share staff, staff may either be split-funded between multiple schools, or they may be charged exclusively to one school location. For instance, speech teacher caseloads change from year-to-year, sometimes resulting in a change in their deployment. In those cases, it may be more efficient to charge such staff to one school, who will be responsible for their payroll and timekeeping.