[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 146 (Friday, August 1, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36128-36129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14603]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Census Bureau
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment
Request; Annual Survey of School System Finances
The Department of Commerce will submit the following information
collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for
review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of
1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. We invite the
general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed, and
continuing information collections, which helps us assess the impact of
our information collection requirements and minimize the public's
reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the
Federal Register on May 8, 2025, during a 60-day comment period. This
notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce.
Title: Annual Survey of School System Finances.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0700.
Form Number(s): F-33, F-33-L1, F-33-L2, F-33-L3.
Type of Request: Regular submission, Request for an Extension
without change of a currently approved collection.
Number of Respondents: 2,081.
Average Hours per Response: 1 hour and 58 minutes.
Burden Hours: 4,116.
Needs and Uses: The U.S. Census Bureau requests an extension of
approval for the Annual Survey of School System Finances (F-33). The
Annual Survey of School System Finances is a comprehensive source of
prekindergarten through 12th grade public elementary-secondary school
system finance data collected on a nationwide scale. This survey and
the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances (OMB No.
0607-0585) are conducted as part of the Census Bureau's State and Local
Government Finance program. Data collected from cities, counties,
states, and special district governments are combined with data
collected from local school systems to produce state and national
totals of government spending. Local school system spending comprises a
significant portion of total government spending. In 2022, public
elementary-secondary expenditures accounted for 36 percent of local
government spending. This comprehensive and ongoing time series
collection of school district finances maintains historical continuity
in the state and local government statistics community.
This data collection is cosponsored by and coordinated with the
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) under interagency
agreement in conjunction with the National Public Education Financial
Survey (NPEFS) (OMB #1850-0067) and the School-Level Finance Survey
(SLFS) (OMB #1850-0930). The NCES uses this
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collection to satisfy its need for school district-level finance data.
Education finance statistics provided by the Census Bureau allow
for analyses of how public elementary-secondary school systems receive
and spend funds. Uniform and comparable data on resources and spending
patterns help states measure the effectiveness of resource allocation.
The products of this data collection make it possible for data users to
obtain information on statistics such as per pupil expenditures, the
proportion of spending that goes to instruction and support services,
and the percent of state, local, and federal funding for each school
system. State legislatures, local leaders, academia, and parents
increasingly rely on data to make substantive decisions about
education.
Data is collected from State Education Agencies (SEAs) for all 50
states and the District of Columbia. SEAs appoint state fiscal
coordinators to work with NCES and the U.S. Census Bureau to provide
accurate and comparable data for all local education agencies (LEAs).
SEAs typically collect finance data from school districts for their own
uses. Many states produce a state-specific chart of accounts or
accounting manual to assist school districts in classifying and
reporting finance data and producing government-wide financial
statements. Uniform definitions and concepts are defined by the NCES
handbook Financial Accounting for Local and State School Systems.
The FY 2025 survey content is unchanged from what was collected
during the FYs 2022-2024 survey cycles. The Census Bureau uses an
announcement letter and form to collect state and local government
public education finance data. We mail the letter electronically to
respondents at the beginning of each survey period soliciting the
assistance of the SEAs in providing data centrally for their public
school systems. The letter officially announces the opening of the
collection period and requests administrative data, such as estimated
date of submission, changes to reporting format from prior year, and
updated contact information for the state coordinator. Census Bureau
staff use the response to this letter to plan for the processing of
state education agency data submissions. The form (F-33) contains the
elementary-secondary education finance items. In practice, this form
serves more as a data processing guide rather than as a data collection
instrument. The Census Bureau relies heavily on collecting this public
school system finance data centrally from state education agencies. All
states provide significant amounts of this data centrally to the Census
Bureau via the internet using File Transfer Protocol (FTP).
Supplemental forms are sent to school systems in states where the state
education agency cannot provide information on assets (F-33-L1),
indebtedness (F-33-L2), or both (F-33-L3).
The Census Bureau facilitates central collection by accepting
states' data in one of two formats. Currently, 17 states provide the
Census Bureau with electronic copies of state-specific detailed
education finance data files. The Census Bureau maintains programs for
converting these data from the state agency format to the Census Bureau
F-33 format. Thirty-four states reformat state-specific data files into
the Census Bureau's format prior to submitting the data electronically
to the Census Bureau.
The education finance data collected and processed by the Census
Bureau are an essential component of the agency's state and local
government finance collection and provide unique products for users of
education finance data.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) uses data from the survey to
develop figures for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Annual Survey of
School System Finances data items specifically contribute to the
estimates for National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), Input-Output
accounts (I-O), and gross domestic investments. BEA also uses the data
to assess other public fiscal spending trends and events.
The Census Bureau's Government Finances program has disseminated
comprehensive and comparable public fiscal data since 1902. School
finance data are incorporated into the local government statistics
reported on the Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances.
The report contains benchmark statistics on public revenue,
expenditure, debt, and assets. They are widely used by economists,
legislators, social and political scientists, and government
administrators.
The Census Bureau makes available detailed files for all school
systems from its internet website, https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/school-finances.html. This website currently contains data
files and statistical tables for the 1992 through 2023 fiscal year
surveys. Historical files and publications prior to 1992 are available
upon request for data users engaged in longitudinal studies. The Census
Bureau also receives inquiries on using these data products from state
government officials, legislatures, public policy analysts, local
school officials, non-profit organizations, and various Federal
agencies.
The NCES use these annual data as part of the Common Core of Data
(CCD) program where the survey is known as the School District Finance
Survey. The education finance data collected by the Census Bureau are
the sole source of school district fiscal information for the CCD. NCES
data users utilize electronic tools to search CCD databases for
detailed fiscal and non-fiscal variables. Additionally, NCES uses
Annual Survey of School System Finances education finance files to
publish annual reports on the fiscal state of education. The Secretary
of Education uses the School District Finance Survey data in
calculating allocations for certain formula grant programs, including
Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
(ESEA) and Impact Aid.
Frequency: Annually.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 8(b), 161 and 182; Title
20 U.S.C., Sections 9543-44.
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view the Department of
Commerce collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain.
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB
Control Number 0607-0700.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental PRA Compliance Officer, Office of the Under Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2025-14603 Filed 7-31-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P