Federal, State, and Local Governments
Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data
Technical Documentation (1997-Present)
| Main | Back To Education Finances |
The files described below contain financial information (revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets) for public elementary-secondary school systems collected as a part of a census of governments taken at 5-year intervals as required by law under Title 13, United States Code, Section 161 (1997) and an annual survey in the intervening years authorized by law under Title 13, United States Code, Section 182.
Contents
- Data File Formats
- Data File Names and Sizes
- Record Layout
- File Record Count
- Additional Information
- Summary
| Data File Formats |
For the convenience of the widest range of data users, there are three formats for each year's data file. Data are available in two ASCII formats--a fixed length file and a comma delimited file--and in a SAS dataset. The self-extracting, compressed, downloadable files were created with ZipMagic and should work with computers using operating systems including MS-DOS, Windows, Win95 and Win98. Users planning to import data directly into spreadsheet or database applications are encouraged to use the 'Comma Delimited' format.
For complete information on the layout of the fixed length file, see the RECORD LAYOUT section below.
In the comma delimited files, alphanumeric data are enclosed in double quotes ["]. The first record in each file contains the variable names referenced below in the RECORD LAYOUT section.
The data in comma delimited format have been divided into three files to limit the number of records in each file. This will enable users to easily import data into most spreadsheet or database software packages. These files are divided by state as follows:
- Alabama through Massachusetts (including the District of Columbia)
- Michigan through North Dakota
- Ohio through Wyoming
When importing the comma delimited files into a spreadsheet or database, data users should specify the format of the following fields as 'text' (rather than 'general' or 'numeric'): STATE, IDCENSUS, FIPS, SCHLEV, and NCESID.
For the SAS dataset files, the RECORD LAYOUT section below gives the variable names used. For each year, the SAS datasets have the file name extension ".sd2" and are compatible with SAS versions 6.10 and higher.
| Data File Names and Sizes |
The files may be downloaded from the Census Bureau's web site under Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data. The sizes of the self-extracting files are between 2 and 3.6 megabytes (MB).
FY 1999
Fixed Length: Self-extracting file: 99esedat.exe (3.5 MB)
Data file: elsec99.dat (26.2 MB)
Comma Delimited: Self-extracting file: 99esecom.exe (3.1 MB)
Data files: 99al-ma.txt (5.1 MB)
99mi-nd.txt (4.3 MB)
99oh-wy.txt (4.5 MB)
SAS dataset: Self-extracting file: 99esesas.exe (3.6 MB)
Data file: elsec99s.sd2 (19.6 MB)
FY 1998
Fixed Length: Self-extracting file: 98esedat.exe (3.4 MB)
Data file: elsec98.dat (24.3 MB)
Comma Delimited: Self-extracting file: 98esecom.exe (2.5 MB)
Data files: 98al-ma.txt (2.5 MB)
98mi-nd.txt (2.1 MB)
98oh-wy.txt (2.2 MB)
SAS dataset: Self-extracting file: 98esesas.exe (3.5 MB)
Data file: elsec98s.sd2 (18.2 MB)
FY 1997
Fixed Length: Self-extracting file: 97esedat.exe (3.4 MB)
Data file: elsec97.dat (24.0 MB)
Comma Delimited: Self-extracting file: 97esecom.exe (2.5 MB)
Data files: 97al-ma.txt (2.5 MB)
97mi-nd.txt (2.1 MB)
97oh-wy.txt (2.2 MB)
SAS dataset: Self-extracting file: 97esesas.exe (3.2 MB)
Data file: elsec97s.sd2 (16.8 MB)
| Record Layout |
An asterisk (*) next to the position denotes an alphanumeric character string; all other items are numeric. There are 122 F-33 data items for years 1997 and 1998, and 123 data items for year 1999. The amounts are expressed in thousands of dollars, excluding fall membership (enrollment) data, whose amounts are expressed in whole numbers.
Revenues | Expenditures | Debt and Assets
SCHOOL SYSTEM DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION:
Field or
ASCII Variable
Item Description Position Name
FY 1997, FY 1998, FY 1999:
State Identification Number................ 1-2* STATE
School System Identification Number........ 5-18* IDCENSUS \1
School System Name......................... 20-51* NAME
FIPS Codes................................. 53-63* FIPS \2
FIPS-State............................... 53-54*
FIPS-County.............................. 55-57*
FIPS-SMSA................................ 58-61*
FIPS-CMSA................................ 62-63*
School Level Code.......................... 65-66* SCHLEV \1
NCES ID Code............................... 68-74* NCESID
Sample Weight.............................. 77-82 WEIGHT
Year of Data............................... 84-85* YRDATA
Fall Membership, October 1996 (FY 1997),
October 1997 (FY 1998),
and October 1998 (FY 1999).... 88-100 V33
\1 - See additional notes on these variables below in ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.\2 - Information about matching counties to their Federal Information Processing System or FIPS codes is available from the Census Bureau's web site under State and County Demographic and Economic Profiles.
SCHOOL SYSTEM DATA:
ASCII Field or ASCII
Data Variable Flag
Item Description Position Name Position \1
\1 Refer to the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION section below for an explanation of the flags.
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TOTAL ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY REVENUE -- sum of
(TFEDREV,TSTREV,TLOCREV)................... 101-112 TOTALREV
Total Revenue from Federal Sources......... 113-124 TFEDREV
Title I grants........................... 125-136 C14 1577
Children with disabilities............... 137-148 C15 1578
Child nutrition act...................... 149-160 C25 1579
Eisenhower math and science.............. 161-172 C16 1580
Drug-free schools........................ 173-184 C17 1581
Title VI grants.......................... 185-196 C18 1582
Vocational education..................... 197-208 C19 1583
All other federal aid through state...... 209-220 C20 1584
Federal revenue, nonspecified............ 221-232 C36 1585
Impact aid (PL 815 and 874).............. 233-244 B10 1586
Bilingual education...................... 245-256 B11 1587
Native American (Indian) education....... 257-268 B12 1588
All other direct federal aid............. 269-280 B13 1589
Total Revenue from State Sources........... 281-292 TSTREV
General formula assistance............... 293-304 C01 1590
Special education programs............... 305-316 C05 1591
Transportation programs.................. 317-328 C12 1592
Staff improvement programs............... 329-340 C04 1593
Compensatory and basic skills programs... 341-352 C06 1594
Vocational education programs............ 353-364 C09 1595
Capital outlay and debt service programs. 365-376 C11 1596
Bilingual education programs............. 377-388 C07 1597
Gifted and talented programs............. 389-400 C08 1598
School lunch programs.................... 401-412 C10 1599
All other revenues from state sources.... 413-424 C13 1600
State payments for LEA employee benefits. 425-436 C38 1601
Other state payments (books, buses, etc). 437-448 C39 1602
State revenue, nonspecified.............. 449-460 C35 1603
Census state, NCES local revenue......... 461-472 C24 1604
Total Revenue from Local Sources........... 473-484 TLOCREV
Property taxes........................... 485-496 T06 1605
General sales or gross receipts taxes.... 497-508 T09 1606
Public utility taxes..................... 509-520 T15 1607
Individual and corporate income taxes.... 521-532 T40 1608
All other taxes.......................... 533-544 T99 1609
Parent government contributions.......... 545-556 T02 1610
Revenue from cities and counties......... 557-568 D23 1611
Revenue from other school systems........ 569-580 D11 1612
Tuition fees from pupils and parents..... 581-592 A07 1613
Transport. fees from pupils and parents.. 593-604 A08 1614
School lunch revenues.................... 605-616 A09 1615
Textbook sales and rentals............... 617-628 A11 1616
Student activity receipts................ 629-640 A13 1617
Other sales and service revenues......... 641-652 A20 1618
Student fees, nonspecified............... 653-664 A15 1619
Interest earnings........................ 665-676 U22 1620
Miscellaneous other local revenues....... 677-688 U97 1621
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TOTAL ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY EXPENDITURES -- sum of
(TCURELSC,NONELSEC,TCAPOUT,L12,M12,Q11,I86) 689-700 TOTALEXP
TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR INSTRUCTION..... 701-712 TCURINST
Current operation expenditures for:
Instruction............................ 713-724 E13 1622
State payment on behalf (for instruc).... 725-736 J13 1623
Own retirement sys transfer (for instruc). 737-748 J12 1624
TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR SUPPORT SERVICES 749-760 TCURSSVC
Current operation expenditures for:
Pupil support.......................... 761-772 E17 1625
Instructional staff support............ 773-784 E07 1626
General administration................. 785-796 E08 1627
School administration.................. 797-808 E09 1628
Operation and maintenance of plant..... 809-820 V40 1629
Student transportation................. 821-832 V45 1630
Business/central/other support svcs.... 833-844 V90 1631
Nonspecified........................... 845-856 V85 1632
State payment on behalf of school system
and own retirement system transfer (ssvcs):
Pupil support.......................... 857-868 J17 1633
Instructional staff support............ 869-880 J07 1634
General administration................. 881-892 J08 1635
School administration.................. 893-904 J09 1636
Operation and maintenance of plant..... 905-916 J40 1637
Student transportation................. 917-928 J45 1638
Business/central/other support svcs.... 929-940 J90 1639
Nonspecified........................... 1565-1576 J85 \2 1688
TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
OTHER ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS........ 941-952 TCUROTH
Current operation expenditures for:
Food services.......................... 953-964 E11 1640
Enterprise operations.................. 965-976 V60 1641
Other.................................. 977-988 V65 1642
State payment on behalf (other).......... 989-1000 J10 1643
TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
NON ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS.......... 1001-1012 NONELSEC
Current operation expenditures for:
Community services..................... 1013-1024 V70 1644
Adult education........................ 1025-1036 V75 1645
Other.................................. 1037-1048 V80 1646
CAPITAL OUTLAY EXPENDITURES................ 1049-1060 TCAPOUT
Construction............................. 1061-1072 F12 1647
Instructional equipment.................. 1073-1084 K09 1648
Other equipment.......................... 1085-1096 K10 1649
Nonspecified equipment................... 1097-1108 K11 1650
Land and existing structures............. 1109-1120 G15 1651
TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS
sum of (TCURINST,TCURSSVC,TCUROTH)......... 1121-1132 TCURELSC
Other Expenditures by Local Education Agency
Payments to state governments............ 1133-1144 L12 1652
Payments to local governments............ 1145-1156 M12 1653
Payments to other school systems......... 1157-1168 Q11 1654
Interest on school system indebtedness... 1169-1180 I86 1655
Exhibits of Selected Items:
(Included above in TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS)
Payments to private schools.............. 1181-1192 V91 1656
Payments to public charter schools....... 1193-1204 V92 1657
Salary Exhibits:
(Included above in TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS)
Total salaries and wages................. 1205-1216 Z32 1658
Instruction............................ 1217-1228 Z33 1659
Pupil support.......................... 1229-1240 V11 1660
Instructional staff support............ 1241-1252 V13 1661
General administration................. 1253-1264 V15 1662
School administration.................. 1265-1276 V17 1663
Operation and maintenance of plant..... 1277-1288 V21 1664
Student transportation................. 1289-1300 V23 1665
Business/central/other support svcs.... 1301-1312 V37 1666
Food services.......................... 1313-1324 V29 1667
Employee Benefit Exhibits:
(Included above in TOTAL CURRENT SPENDING FOR
ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY PROGRAMS)
Total employee benefit payments.......... 1325-1336 Z34 1668
Instruction............................ 1337-1348 V10 1669
Pupil support.......................... 1349-1360 V12 1670
Instructional staff.................... 1361-1372 V14 1671
General administration................. 1373-1384 V16 1672
School administration.................. 1385-1396 V18 1673
Operation and maintenance of plant..... 1397-1408 V22 1674
Student transportation................. 1409-1420 V24 1675
Business/central/other support svcs.... 1421-1432 V38 1676
Food services.......................... 1433-1444 V30 1677
Enterprise operations.................. 1445-1456 V32 1678
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DEBT (Long-term)
Outstanding at beginning of fiscal year.. 1457-1468 _19H 1679
Issued during the fiscal year.......... 1469-1480 _21F 1680
Retired during the fiscal year......... 1481-1492 _31F 1681
Outstanding at end of fiscal year........ 1493-1504 _41F 1682
DEBT (Short-term)
Outstanding at beginning of fiscal year.. 1505-1516 _61V 1683
Outstanding at end of the fiscal year.... 1517-1528 _66V 1684
CASH AND INVESTMENTS
(Cash and deposits, held at end of fiscal year)
Debt service funds....................... 1529-1540 W01 1685
Bond funds............................... 1541-1552 W31 1686
Other funds.............................. 1553-1564 W61 1687
\2 - J85 is a new code beginning in Fiscal Year 1999. The flag and the actual data amount are
found at the end of the data files.
| Data File Record Counts by State |
The data file record counts may not always correspond to the number of elementary-secondary school systems existing in a state because data for some education service agencies may be included in the data of the school systems they serve.
STATE
STATE CODE -1997- -1998- -1999-
AL Alabama 01 127 127 128
AK Alaska 02 53 53 53
AZ Arizona 03 228 230 231
AR Arkansas 04 326 326 325
CA California 05 1,084 1,077 1,096
CO Colorado 06 195 195 196
CT Connecticut 07 174 174 174
DE Delaware 08 19 19 19
DC Dist. of Columbia 09 1 1 1
FL Florida 10 67 67 67
GA Georgia 11 196 196 196
HI Hawaii 12 1 1 1
ID Idaho 13 112 112 112
IL Illinois 14 1,096 1,046 1,075
IN Indiana 15 315 315 315
IA Iowa 16 394 392 390
KS Kansas 17 304 304 304
KY Kentucky 18 176 176 176
LA Louisiana 19 66 66 66
ME Maine 20 292 292 293
MD Maryland 21 24 24 24
MA Massachusetts 22 436 392 396
MI Michigan 23 691 719 750
MN Minnesota 24 425 416 414
MS Mississippi 25 153 152 152
MO Missouri 26 525 525 525
MT Montana 27 490 483 481
NE Nebraska 28 674 657 622
NV Nevada 29 17 17 17
NH New Hampshire 30 177 177 177
NJ New Jersey 31 615 615 614
NM New Mexico 32 89 89 89
NY New York 33 707 690 690
NC North Carolina 34 117 117 117
ND North Dakota 35 263 260 257
OH Ohio 36 736 727 724
OK Oklahoma 37 586 586 586
OR Oregon 38 243 220 219
PA Pennsylvania 39 604 605 605
RI Rhode Island 40 36 36 36
SC South Carolina 41 106 98 98
SD South Dakota 42 177 176 176
TN Tennessee 43 139 138 138
TX Texas 44 1,062 1,063 1,063
UT Utah 45 40 40 40
VT Vermont 46 328 328 328
VA Virginia 47 154 155 156
WA Washington 48 305 305 305
WV West Virginia 49 55 55 55
WI Wisconsin 50 430 430 430
WY Wyoming 51 49 48 48
----------------- ====== ====== ======
U.S. Total 15,679 15,512 15,550
| Additional Information |
The first 2 characters of the IDCENSUS field stand for the state code. The 3rd character represents the "type of government" code, described below. Characters 4 through 6 represent the county code. Characters 7 through 14 uniquely identify the government unit. For an independent school system, this government unit is the system itself. For dependent school systems, characters 1 through 9 of the IDCENSUS field match that of the parent government on which the system is dependent. Characters 10 through 14 uniquely identify the dependent school system where more than one system is dependent on the parent government.
| Type of Government Code (3rd character of IDCENSUS field) | |
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| State Dependent School System | 0 |
| County Dependent School System | 1 |
| City Dependent School System | 2 |
| Township Dependent School System | 3 |
| Independent School System | 5 |
- Elementary School System Only: a public school system which typically serves grades Pre-Kindergarten through 8. - Secondary School System Only: a public school system which typically serves grades 7 - 12. - Elementary/Secondary School System: a public school system which serves grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. - Vocational Education: a locally operated public school system which focuses primarily on special education and provides education and training in one or more semiskilled or technical operations. - Special Education: a locally operated public school system which focuses primarily on special education, including instruction for any of the following: hard of hearing, deaf, speech-impaired, health-impaired, orthopedically-impaired, mentally retarded, seriously emotionally disturbed, multi-handicapped, visually handicaped, deaf and blind; and adapts curriculum, materials or instruction for students served. - Nonoperating School System: a system which only exists to collect tax revenue which it then transfers to other school systems that actually provide the education services. - Educational Service Agency: a dependent agency of the school system or systems that it serves. It typically provides regional special education or vocational education programs.
| School Level Code (SCHLEV field) | |
| Description | Value |
|---|---|
| Elementary School System Only | 01 |
| Secondary School System Only | 02 |
| Elementary-Secondary School System | 03 |
| Vocational or Special Education School System | 05 |
| Non-operating School System | 06 |
| Educational Service Agency | 07 |
For the first time, the F-33 school system finance file also contains data item flags. For each data cell there is a companion cell containing a flag indicating whether the figure in the cell was reported by the state or adjusted by the Census Bureau. The companion cell is identified by the name of the original data cell preceded by an "FL_", e.g., FL_E13 or FL_19H. There are no flags for the summary variables, such as 'TOTALREV', 'TLOCREV', 'TOTALEXP', and 'NONELSEC'. The guide to the flags is displayed below. The flags for the fixed length file are located at the end of the file, while the flags for the comma-delimited file and SAS dataset are located directly following the data cell the flag refers to.
| Flag Options (1 character) | |
| Description | Character |
|---|---|
| As reported by the state | R |
| Adjustment made by analyst | A |
| Adjustments to include data for state payments made on behalf of the school systems | S |
| Not applicable - A value was not expected. (For example, a dependent school system would report no taxes. An independent school district would report no 'parent government contribution'. | N |
| Summary |
| Fiscal year of data: | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Release Date: | 6/21/2000 | 6/30/2001 | X/XX/2001 |
| Date of last revision: | 8/15/2000 | none | none |