Michigan ranked 20th in expenditures per pupil for public elementary and secondary education FY 2007. Michigan’s per pupil spending continued to remain above the national average of $9,683. Michigan’s increase in per pupil expenditures between the 2005 and 2007 barely kept up with inflation. Ohio and Wisconsin both spent more per pupil in 2007, while Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana spent less.
Michigan ranked 9th in average salary paid to teachers in the 2006-07 school year, down from seventh the year before. The inflation-adjusted average teacher salary in Michigan declined 8.9 percent from 1996-97 to 2006-07 and 8.2 percent in the five years ending in 2007. This five-year change ranks Michigan 49th of the 50 states.
