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Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 216.30. Number and percentage distribution of public elementary and secondary students and schools, by traditional or charter school status and selected characteristics: Selected years, 1999-2000 through 2017-18
Selected characteristic 1999-2000 2000-01 2010-11 2017-18
Total,
all
public
schools
Traditional
(noncharter)
schools
Charter
schools
Total,
all
public
schools
Traditional
(noncharter)
schools
Charter
schools
Total,
all
public
schools
Traditional
(noncharter)
schools
Charter
schools
Total,
all
public
schools
Traditional
(noncharter)
schools
Charter
schools
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Fall enrollment (in thousands) 46,689 46,350 340 47,061 46,612 448 49,178 47,391 1,787 50,330 47,187 3,143

Percentage distribution
    of students
                       
Sex 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Male 51.4 51.4 51.1 51.4 51.4 51.2 51.4 51.4 49.5 51.4 51.5 49.6
Female 48.6 48.6 48.9 48.6 48.6 48.8 48.6 48.6 50.5 48.6 48.5 50.4

Race/ethnicity
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
White 61.8 61.9 42.5 61.0 61.2 42.7 52.5 53.1 36.2 47.6 48.7 32.1
Black 17.1 16.9 33.5 17.0 16.9 33.2 16.0 15.5 28.9 15.2 14.5 25.8
Hispanic 15.9 15.9 19.6 16.6 16.6 19.4 23.1 22.9 27.3 26.7 26.3 33.1
Asian/Pacific Islander 4.1 4.1 2.8 4.2 4.2 2.9 5.0 5.0 3.7 5.6 5.6 4.4
Asian --- --- --- --- --- --- 4.6 4.7 3.3 5.2 5.3 4.0
Pacific Islander --- --- --- --- --- --- 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.4
American Indian/
    Alaska Native
1.2 1.2 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.8 1.1 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.7
Two or more races --- --- --- --- --- --- 2.4 2.3 2.9 3.9 3.9 3.9

Percent of students eligible
    for free or reduced-price
    lunch program1
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 to 25.0 44.9 45.0 36.9 34.3 34.3 39.3 23.9 23.8 26.7 21.0 21.2 18.2
25.1 to 50.0 25.4 25.5 12.7 24.7 24.8 12.7 28.9 29.2 18.9 28.3 28.9 19.5
50.1 to 75.0 16.0 16.1 13.0 16.0 16.1 14.9 26.6 26.8 20.4 25.3 25.6 21.6
More than 75.0 12.2 12.2 14.3 12.4 12.4 14.7 20.1 19.7 30.7 24.8 24.2 34.5
Missing/school does not
    participate
1.4 1.2 23.2 12.5 12.4 18.4 0.5 0.4 3.2 0.6 0.2 6.2

Number of teachers
2,636,277 2,622,678 13,599 2,747,649 2,729,033 18,616 3,001,994 2,910,869 91,126 3,079,590 2,922,634 156,956
Pupil/teacher ratio2 16.6 16.6 18.8 16.4 16.4 18.2 16.4 16.4 18.0 16.1 16.0 17.7

Total number of schools
92,012 90,488 1,524 93,273 91,280 1,993 98,817 93,543 5,274 98,469 91,276 7,193

Percentage distribution
    of schools
                       
School level 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Elementary3 69.7 70.0 54.6 69.3 69.7 50.7 67.9 68.7 54.3 68.5 69.4 56.5
Secondary4 24.3 24.3 25.9 23.6 23.6 23.4 24.8 24.8 25.9 24.3 24.3 23.2
Combined5 4.4 4.2 18.6 5.5 5.1 22.5 6.2 5.5 19.5 6.4 5.3 20.3
Ungraded 1.6 1.6 0.9 1.7 1.7 3.4 1.1 1.1 0.2 0.9 1.0 0.1

Size of enrollment
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Less than 300 31.3 30.5 77.0 31.9 31.0 75.2 30.9 29.3 59.0 29.8 28.6 44.8
300 to 499 26.5 26.7 12.0 26.5 26.8 12.7 27.8 28.1 22.3 28.1 28.3 25.5
500 to 999 32.8 33.2 8.7 32.0 32.5 9.7 32.3 33.4 14.8 32.7 33.5 23.3
1,000 or more 9.5 9.7 2.4 9.6 9.8 2.4 9.0 9.3 3.9 9.4 9.6 6.3

Racial/ethnic concentration
                       
More than 50 percent White 70.9 71.2 51.1 70.2 70.6 51.6 60.4 61.7 38.4 54.8 56.6 32.3
More than 50 percent Black 11.1 10.8 26.5 11.1 10.8 25.1 10.7 9.8 25.4 9.8 8.7 22.8
More than 50 percent Hispanic 8.8 8.7 11.4 9.2 9.1 11.5 14.5 14.1 20.8 17.3 16.6 26.6
No majority racial/ethnic
    group
7.8 7.8 9.1 8.0 8.0 9.7 13.1 13.0 14.1 16.5 16.4 16.8

Percent of students eligible
    for free or reduced-price
    lunch program1
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 to 25.0 42.3 42.3 44.5 29.9 29.8 33.1 23.2 22.9 27.7 17.9 18.0 16.6
25.1 to 50.0 25.6 25.9 11.1 25.0 25.3 11.5 26.9 27.4 17.4 26.6 27.3 18.2
50.1 to 75.0 16.8 16.9 10.2 16.8 16.9 11.1 26.4 26.8 20.1 25.1 25.4 21.5
More than 75.0 11.9 11.9 12.4 12.2 12.2 13.1 21.3 20.7 33.1 25.8 24.9 37.0
Missing/school does not
    participate
3.3 3.0 21.9 16.2 15.8 31.1 2.2 2.3 1.7 4.6 4.4 6.6

Locale
--- --- --- --- --- --- 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
City --- --- --- --- --- --- 26.2 24.5 55.5 27.2 24.9 56.1
Suburban --- --- --- --- --- --- 27.4 27.8 21.3 31.7 32.1 26.3
Town --- --- --- --- --- --- 14.0 14.4 7.6 13.3 13.9 6.1
Rural --- --- --- --- --- --- 32.3 33.3 15.6 27.8 29.1 11.5

Region
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Northeast 16.1 16.3 7.2 16.2 16.3 10.9 15.5 15.9 9.5 15.2 15.6 10.1
Midwest 28.9 29.0 24.9 28.7 28.8 23.3 26.4 26.6 23.1 26.0 26.5 20.6
South 33.1 33.2 28.9 33.1 33.2 27.5 34.7 35.0 29.5 34.8 35.0 32.6
West 21.8 21.6 38.9 22.0 21.6 38.3 23.4 22.5 37.9 23.9 22.9 36.7
---Not available.
1 The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is a federally assisted meal program. To be eligible for free lunch under the program, a student must be from a household with an income at or below 130 percent of the poverty threshold; to be eligible for reduced-price lunch, a student must be from a household with an income between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty threshold. Data for 2017-18 include students whose NSLP eligibility has been determined through direct certification.
2 Pupil/teacher ratio based on schools that reported both enrollment and teacher data.
3 Includes schools beginning with grade 6 or below and with no grade higher than 8.
4 Includes schools with no grade lower than 7.
5 Includes schools beginning with grade 6 or below and ending with grade 9 or above.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 1999-2000 through 2017-18; and Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE), "Public School File," 2017-18. (This table was prepared January 2020.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest