Joseph Spector is reporting for Politics on the Hudson New York’s public schools spent an average of $19,818 per pupil in 2013, 85 percent more than the national average, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The national average in 2013 was $10,700. In the budget approved by state lawmakers April 1, New York allocated approximately $23 billion for public education, an increase of about 6 percent over the previous year. The lowest per pupil spending in the nation was in Utah at $6,555, followed by Idaho, Arizona, Oklahoma and Mississippi. On the high end of per-pupil spending, New York was followed by Alaska, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and Connecticut. New York receives among the least in the nation in federal aid to schools, the census data showed. The state relies largely on property taxes and state aid to cover school costs. Read the full story at Politics on the Hudson.