{
  "publication": "The Ledger, Issue No. 003 (in production) — the cut zone",
  "generated_from": "LEDGER_Q_DISTRICT_CUT_SHARE_v1",
  "production_run": "2026-08-22",
  "instrument_url": "https://pillargtm.com/ledger/cut-zone/",
  "the_number": "46% of 248 school districts cut what they pay named education vendors by more than 10 percent between FY2023 and FY2025.",
  "the_reversal": "The post-stimulus cut is described everywhere as a permanent reset. In these four states’ payment records it lasted one year. FY2023 is the trough, and by FY2025 supplemental spending is at an all-time high while core curriculum has recovered most of the way. Platform and system spending never fell in any year from FY2019 to FY2025, so it never joined the cut at all.",
  "the_arguable_claim": "The market recovered and most districts did not. State totals went back up, but 115 of 248 comparable districts still pay named vendors more than 10 percent less than they did in FY2023.",
  "the_check": "Every figure traces to a state disclosure file. Pull yours and check one district. If a material figure is wrong, PILLAR publishes the correction with the finder's name on it.",
  "supporting_figures": {
    "universe_districts": 275,
    "comparable_districts": 248,
    "cut_over_10pct": 115,
    "cut_over_10pct_share": "46%",
    "cut_over_25pct": 87,
    "cut_over_25pct_share": "35%",
    "grew_over_10pct": 108,
    "grew_over_10pct_share": "44%",
    "platform_fy2019_usd_m": 13.94,
    "platform_fy2025_usd_m": 34.49,
    "platform_down_years": 0,
    "per_state": {
      "DE": {
        "comparable": 29,
        "cut10": 15,
        "cut25": 11,
        "grew10": 10
      },
      "MD": {
        "comparable": 23,
        "cut10": 7,
        "cut25": 5,
        "grew10": 14
      },
      "UT": {
        "comparable": 145,
        "cut10": 70,
        "cut25": 54,
        "grew10": 61
      },
      "WV": {
        "comparable": 51,
        "cut10": 23,
        "cut25": 17,
        "grew10": 23
      }
    }
  },
  "chart": "/ledger/cut-zone/assets/cut-zone-distribution.png",
  "caveats_that_must_travel": [
    "Four states only: Utah, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware.",
    "Canonical-matched instructional, assessment and platform vendors only. Hardware and device refresh excluded.",
    "Maryland discloses at or above $25,000 by statute; Utah is filtered at $1,000 on ingest.",
    "District totals are lumpy because curriculum is bought on adoption cycles. Threshold shares are reported rather than averages for that reason.",
    "FY2026 is still filling and is never quoted."
  ]
}