What does the term 'spending per pupil' refer to?

The term 'spending per pupil' specifically refers to the amount of money allocated and spent on each student attending a school. This figure provides insight into the financial resources dedicated to educating individual students and can include expenditures for teaching staff, facilities, materials, and extracurricular activities. It is a key metric for evaluating educational funding and resource allocation, helping to assess equity in education and the overall investment in student learning.

In contrast, the total budget of the school encompasses all financial resources available to the institution and is not directly tied to individual student spending. The income generated by a school does not reflect expenditures on education but rather the revenue coming in from various sources. Similarly, the average cost of school supplies pertains only to materials used by students and does not account for the broader range of expenses that contribute to the per pupil expenditure metric.