How are public schools in Hawaii funded?
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Primarily from state governments. In the 2021–2022 school year, the most recent year of available data, about 84.7% of public school funding came from state sources. Another 0.78% came through local programs, and the federal government provided the remaining 14.5%. Altogether, public schools received $3.56 billion in funding, or $20,600 per student.
$3.56B
of funding went to public schools in Hawaii (2021–2022 school year)
$20.6K
per student went to public schools in Hawaii (2021–2022 school year)
All American public schools are funded with a mix of local, state, and federal money, but the share attributable to each source — and the total amount of funding per student — differs by state. Hawaii schools received about $20,600 per student in 2021, roughly $2,100 more than the national average. The largest difference was in state funding: the average US school received $8,100 per student from state sources, compared to $17,400 in Hawaii.
In the 2021 school year, public schools in Hawaii received $2,100 more per student than the average US school
Total public school funding by source per student
Public school districts receive funding from a combination of local, state, and federal sources.
- Local funding often comes from property taxes but can also come from fees or programs like parent-teacher associations.
- State funding is generated through a wide variety of sources that vary from state-to-state, often through personal and corporate income and retail sales taxes. Depending on the state, funding may also come from taxes on tobacco products and alcoholic beverages and from lotteries.
- Federal funding often comes to school districts through a series of targeted grants, like Title I, which supports schools serving low-income communities, or IDEA, which funds special education services. Much of this funding goes to the state, which is then allocated to individual school districts.
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In the 2021 school year, local, state, and federal funds amounted to $20,600 per student in Hawaii
Total public school funding by source per student
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
