The information is published in a "Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending" issued Friday by the state Department of Education. The Christie administration says the guide offers a more accurate picture of education costs than previous reports because those reports failed to include many categories of spending.
The guide says the average per-pupil cost for the 2009-10 school year was $17,836. That's about $4,200 more than the cost determined under a previous formula.
Per pupil spending in the 31 so-called Abbott districts - those with poor schools designated by the courts for increased state aid - averaged $20,859. In the other 500-plus districts, the average was $17,050.
