Bloomfield 'Taxpayers' Guide' to School Spending: New Report

Taxpayers in Bloomfield can now look at how their tax dollars are being spent by the school district -- cent by cent -- with a new guide released by the Department of Education. 

The “2012 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending” was released last week. This compressive guide includes “a full accounting for all dollars spent on . . . schools to provide a complete picture of spending in the state,” according to a press release issued by the DOE.  

The Bloomfield School District spent $15,218 per pupil in 2010-11, well below the state average of $17,352. Bloomfield ranked 26 out of 106 similar school districts in the state when it came to total per pupil spending. 

Only the budgeted costs per pupil were provided for the 2011-12 school year, which provide a less comprehensive picture of spending because it does not factor in pension payments, transportation costs, and other things.

Nonetheless, the budgeted costs were $11,740 last year in Bloomfield, ranking the district 23 out of 106. 

Other costs in Bloomfield included:

• $7,431 in total classroom instruction costs using budgeted per pupil costs in 2011-12, which ranked 22 out of 106 school districts;

• $1,649 in total administration costs using budgeted per pupil costs in 2011-12, which ranked 93 out of 106 school districts; and

• $1,647 in total support services costs using budgeted per pupil costs in 2011-12, which ranked 23 out of 106 school districts. 

Click HERE to see the full guide to the Bloomfield School District’s spending.

Among other findings, the DOE’s guide found that Bloomfield  teacher salaries averaged $52,500 in 2011-12, ranking them at the second lowest in Essex County.  By comparison, Montclair teachers earned an average of $68,037, while West Orange teachers earned an average of $79,000, Belleville teachers an average of 65,415 and Newark teachers an average of $58,989.

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