The amount of money that the Baltimore public school system spends per student took center stage recently, when a debate moderator asked a field of Democratic candidates for governor what they thought was the biggest barrier facing struggling city schools, given that the district “spends the fourth-most per student in America.”

Gov. Larry Hogan’s office had referenced the same statistic several times this past winter, during political finger-pointing that came after broken heating systems left many Baltimore students shivering in their classrooms.

The figure, however, isn’t quite true.

It comes from a U.S. Census Bureau report on public education finance in 2015. But the report only ranked the nation’s 100 largest school districts.

That distinction matters, city education advocates say.

“The statement that Baltimore’s per-pupil spending is the fourth highest in the nation is misleading and fails to provide substantive context for the ranking,” city schools spokeswoman Edie House-Foster wrote in a statement. “There are more than 13,000 school districts in the nation; Baltimore ranks at about 2,400 in per-pupil spending in the overall group.”

Some have been critical of the governor’s office for using the figure multiple times.

“It seems to be thrown around with the intent of shaming Baltimore City Public Schools,” said Jess Gartner, CEO of Baltimore-based Allovue, which works with school districts on education finance strategy.

A Hogan spokeswoman said the census report the governor’s statements draw from provides an “apples to apples” comparison of comparable school districts. She added that his administration provided more than $47 million in funding above the formulas for Baltimore schools since taking office.

“The history of fiscal mismanagement at North Avenue is well documented,” Amelia Chasse said in a statement, “and our administration continues to be committed to ensuring that funds are spent in the classroom where they belong.”

— Talia Richman