School Finance: Trends in U.S. Education Spending

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the current status and trends in public education spending, focusing on: (1) the current expenditure levels for education and how they have changed over time; (2) the roles local, state, and federal governments play in financing education in the United States, and how these roles have changed over time; and (3) how the states differ in their capacity to provide resources for education and their relative tax effort.