This paper studies the trends in the financing of elementary education in India over the past decade. In 1994 the Indian Supreme Court issued a directive to universalize free and compulsory elementary education, but that in a changing economic milieu where social service expenditures have often been reduced in other countries, it is important to analyze the financing of elementary education in India. The paper considers the financing of elementary education by all agents, including: the government of India and individual state governments. Household data from central and state government budget documents are used to obtain public expenditures, while private expenditures are obtained from survey data. The analysis in the paper compares public spending on elementary education over time and across states. It explores the relationships between spending on elementary education and national/state incomes. It also examines the variations in real expenditures and real expenditures per student. The paper attempts to correlate public expenditures with enrollments in elementary schools in various states. The paper studies the role of household spending on sending children to government, private aided, and private unaided schools in the various states. Includes 29 notes, 2 information boxes, and 19 tables. Six figures are annexed. (Contains 18 references.) (BT)