May 14, 2018 3:55PM 

# Show Me the (Education) Money, Tar Heel Edition! 

By [Neal McCluskey](https://www.cato.org/people/neal-mccluskey) 

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North Carolina is becoming the latest hot spot in the education funding wildfire—thousands of protesting teachers are [expected in Raleigh on Wednesday](http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article210715734.html)—so before I deliver the promised wrap up on my [state](https://www.cato.org/blog/show-me-education-money) [spending](https://www.cato.org/blog/show-me-education-money-part-ii) [series](https://www.cato.org/blog/show-me-education-money-part-iii), I thought I’d add NC to the mix.

As you can see on the following chart, North Carolina’s total spending per-pupil, which includes both operational and capital costs, fell appreciably between the 1999–00 school year, the earliest with [readily available federal data](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d17/tables/dt17_236.75.asp?current=yes), and 14–15. It dropped from inflation-adjusted $10,397 to $8,986, a roughly 14 percent decline. Like other states already profiled, spending peaked right before the recession, but unlike hot-spot states Colorado, Oklahoma, and West Virginia, it never recovered to eventually exceed the beginning of the period. It basically kept dropping until the last year in the period.

![Media Name: nc_per-pup.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/nc_per-pup.jpg?itok=1keSEIbN) 

Where have the biggest changes been? Breaking the spending down in the chart below, the state has generally kept instructional spending pretty steady, ending only 3 percent lower in 14–15 than 99–00. The big drops were in capital outlays and interest on school debt. The latter disappeared almost entirely, and the former dropped 71 percent, from $1,549 to $448. Like other hot-spot states, North Carolina saw increases in various support categories, with the biggest percentage increase in “other support,” which grew 50 percent.

![Media Name: nc_total_spend.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/social-images/nc_total_spend.jpg?itok=H2k9OiU1) 

So there’s your North Carolina snapshot. Coming next: Our final installment looking at some of the possible reasons for these changes.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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