Longitudinal analysis of expenditure trends for Mesa Unified School District

This study explored the expenditure trends of the Mesa Unified School District in Mesa, Arizona during an unprecedented growth period between the years of 1980-81 and 1992-93. For comparative purposes, data were arranged in tables and figures, and descriptive analyses were made comparing Mesa's expenditure trends to United States averages for the data entry years of 1980-81, 1983-84, 1986-87, 1989-90 and 1992-93. Regression lines were computed from the proportions of the maintenance and operation budget expenditures for Mesa Unified and United States averages. The slopes of these lines were then compared using a t-test of correlated means to determine if significant differences in the trend lines occurred.;Significant differences existed between the trend line slopes for the expenditure functions of instruction and operations. Significant differences were found between the expenditure trends for classroom instruction and capital outlay as well. Mesa Unified's allocation of expenditures for instruction in the early 1980s were 5.0% less than United States averages, and gravitated toward national average proportions in subsequent years, eventually slightly surpassing them in 1986-87. A similar pattern emerged for classroom instruction expenditure proportions. For the function of operations, Mesa Unified proportions were nearly 9% higher than national average proportions in the early 1980s, and then gravitated negatively toward national averages. Capital outlay expenditure proportions exhibited a similar pattern.;In addition to the differences in trend line slopes, Mesa Unified consistently allocated 2% less per budget year than national average proportions for the function of central administration. Further comparisons of pupil per administrator ratios found Mesa Unified with a 75.5% higher proportion than average state of all Arizona school districts. Likewise, comparisons of pupils per teacher and pupils per classified personnel found Mesa Unified with higher average ratios of an average of 8.1% for teachers, and 20.6% for classified personnel.