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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 32. Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2002-03
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Selected characteristic                              |  1869-70|1879-80|1889-90|1899-1900|1909-10|1919-20|1929-30|1939-40|1949-50|    1959-60|    1969-70|    1979-80|   1989-90| 1999-2000|    2001-02|    2002-03
_____________________________________________________|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|___________|__________|__________|___________|___________
1                                                    |        2|      3|      4|        5|      6|      7|      8|      9|     10|         11|         12|         13|        14|        15|         16|         17
_____________________________________________________|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|___________|__________|__________|___________|___________
Population, pupils, and instructional staff          |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Total population (in thousands)\1\ ..................|   38,558| 50,156| 62,622|   75,995| 90,490|104,514|121,878|131,028|149,188|    177,830|    201,385|    224,567|   246,819|   279,040|    285,102|    287,941
  Population aged 5-17 years (in thousands)\1\ ......|   11,683| 15,066| 18,473|   21,573| 24,011| 27,571| 31,414| 30,151| 30,223|     43,881|     52,386|     48,041|    44,947|    52,811|     53,250|     53,316
  Percent of total population 5-17 ..................|     30.3|   30.0|   29.5|     28.4|   26.5|   26.4|   25.8|   23.0|   20.3|       24.7|       26.0|       21.4|      18.2|      18.9|       18.7|       18.5
                                                     |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Total enrollment in elementary and secondary         |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   schools (in thousands)\2\ ........................|\3\ 7,562|  9,867| 12,723|   15,503| 17,814| 21,578| 25,678| 25,434| 25,112|     36,087|     45,550|     41,651|    40,543|    46,857|     47,672|     48,183
  Prekindergarten and grades 1-8, in thousands ......|\3\ 7,481|  9,757| 12,520|   14,984| 16,899| 19,378| 21,279| 18,833| 19,387|     27,602|     32,513|     28,034|    29,152|    33,488|     33,938|     34,116
  Grades 9-12 (in thousands) ........................|\3\    80|    110|    203|      519|    915|  2,200|  4,399|  6,601|  5,725|      8,485|     13,037|     13,616|    11,390|    13,369|     13,734|     14,067
                                                     |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Enrollment as a percent of total population .........|\3\  19.6|   19.7|   20.3|     20.4|   19.7|   20.6|   21.1|   19.4|   16.8|       20.3|       22.6|       18.5|      16.4|      16.8|       16.7|       16.7
Enrollment as a percent of 5- to 17-year-olds .......|\3\  64.7|   65.5|   68.9|     71.9|   74.2|   78.3|   81.7|   84.4|   83.1|       82.2|       87.0|       86.7|      90.2|      88.7|       89.5|       90.4
Percent of total enrollment in high schools          |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   (grades 9-12 and postgraduate) ...................|\3\   1.1|    1.1|    1.6|      3.3|    5.1|   10.2|   17.1|   26.0|   22.8|       23.5|       28.6|       32.7|      28.1|      28.5|       28.8|       29.2
High school graduates (in thousands) ................|     --- |   --- |     22|       62|    111|    231|    592|  1,143|  1,063|      1,627|      2,589|      2,748|     2,320|     2,554|      2,622|      2,635
                                                     |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Average daily attendance (in thousands) .............|    4,077|  6,144|  8,154|   10,633| 12,827| 16,150| 21,265| 22,042| 22,284|     32,477|     41,934|     38,289|    37,799|    43,807|     44,605|     45,068
Total number of days attended by pupils              |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   enrolled (in millions) ...........................|      539|    801|  1,098|    1,535|  2,011|  2,615|  3,673|  3,858|  3,964|      5,782|      7,501|\4\   6,835|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
Percent of enrolled pupils attending daily ..........|     59.3|   62.3|   64.1|     68.6|   72.1|   74.8|   82.8|   86.7|   88.7|       90.0|       90.4|\4\    90.1|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
Average length of school term, in days ..............|    132.2|  130.3|  134.7|    144.3|  157.5|  161.9|  172.7|  175.0|  177.9|      178.0|      178.9|\4\   178.5|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
Average number of days attended per pupil ...........|     78.4|   81.1|   86.3|     99.0|  113.0|  121.2|  143.0|  151.7|  157.9|      160.2|      161.7|\4\   160.8|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
                                                     |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Total instructional staff (in thousands) ............|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    678|    880|    912|    963|      1,457|      2,286|      2,406|     2,986|     3,819|      3,989|      4,017
  Supervisors (in thousands) ........................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |      7|      7|      5|   --- |       --- |       --- |       --- |       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
  Principals (in thousands) .........................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |     14|     31|     32|     43|         64|         91|        106|       126|       137|        161|        164
  Teachers, librarians, and other nonsupervisory     |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
     instructional staff (in thousands)\5\ ..........|      201|    287|    364|      423|    523|    657|    843|    875|    920|      1,393|      2,195|      2,300|     2,860|     3,682|      3,829|      3,853
    Males (in thousands) ............................|       78|    123|    126|      127|    110|     93|    140|    195|    196|\4\     404|\4\     711|\4\     782|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
    Females (in thousands) ..........................|      123|    164|    238|      296|    413|    585|    703|    681|    724|\4\     989|\4\   1,484|\4\   1,518|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
    Percent male ....................................|     38.7|   42.8|   34.5|     29.9|   21.1|   14.1|   16.6|   22.2|   21.3|\4\    29.0|\4\    32.4|\4\    34.0|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
                                                     |=========|=======|=======|=========|=======|=======|=======|=======|=======|===========|===========|===========|==========|==========|===========|===========
Revenues and expenditures                            |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
Total revenue receipts (in millions) ................|      ---|   --- |   $143|     $220|   $433|   $970| $2,089| $2,261| $5,437|    $14,747|    $40,267|    $96,881|  $208,548|  $372,944|   $419,502|   $440,157
  Federal government ................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |      2|      7|     40|    156|        652|      3,220|      9,504|    12,701|    27,098|     33,145|     37,516
  State governments .................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    160|    354|    684|  2,166|      5,768|     16,063|     45,349|    98,239|   184,613|    206,542|    214,277
  Local sources, including intermediate .............|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    808|  1,728|  1,536|  3,116|      8,327|     20,985|     42,029|    97,608|   161,233|    179,816|    188,364
Percent distribution of revenue receipts             |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
  Federal government ................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    0.3|    0.4|    1.8|    2.9|        4.4|        8.0|        9.8|       6.1|       7.3|        7.9|        8.5
  State governments .................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   16.5|   16.9|   30.3|   39.8|       39.1|       39.9|       46.8|      47.1|      49.5|       49.2|       48.7
  Local sources, including intermediate .............|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   83.2|   82.7|   68.0|   57.3|       56.5|       52.1|       43.4|      46.8|      43.2|       42.9|       42.8
Total expenditures for public schools (in millions) .|      $63|    $78|   $141|     $215|   $426| $1,036| $2,317| $2,344| $5,838|    $15,613|    $40,683|    $95,962|  $212,770|  $381,838|   $435,364|   $454,906
  Current expenditures\6\ ...........................|      ---|   --- |    114|      180|    356|    861|  1,844|  1,942|  4,687|\7\  12,329|\7\  34,218|\7\  86,984|\7\188,229|\7\323,889|\7\ 368,378|\7\ 387,592
  Capital outlay\8\ .................................|      ---|   --- |     26|       35|     70|    154|    371|    258|  1,014|      2,662|      4,659|      6,506|    17,781|    43,357|     49,961|     48,940
  Interest on school debt ...........................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |     18|     93|    131|    101|        490|      1,171|      1,874|     3,776|     9,135|     10,495|     11,499
  Other current expenditures\9\ .....................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |      3|     10|     13|     36|        133|        636|\10\    598|     2,983|     5,457|      6,531|      6,874
Percent distribution of total expenditures           |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
  Current expenditures\6\ ...........................|      ---|   --- |   81.3|     83.5|   83.6|   83.1|   79.6|   82.8|   80.3|\7\    79.0|\7\    84.1|\7\    90.6|\7\   88.5|\7\   84.8|\7\    84.6|\7\    85.2
  Capital outlay\8\ .................................|      ---|   --- |   18.7|     16.5|   16.4|   14.8|   16.0|   11.0|   17.4|       17.0|       11.5|        6.8|       8.4|      11.4|       11.5|       10.8
  Interest on school debt ...........................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    1.8|    4.0|    5.6|    1.7|        3.1|        2.9|        2.0|       1.8|       2.4|        2.4|        2.5
  Other current expenditures\9\ .....................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    0.3|    0.4|    0.6|    0.6|        0.8|        1.6|\10\    0.6|       1.4|       1.4|        1.5|        1.5
                                                     |_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|___________|__________|__________|___________|___________
                                                     |                 |       |         |               Amounts in current dollars
                                                     |_________________|_______|_________|_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Annual salary of classroom teachers\11\ .............|     $189|   $195|   $252|     $325|   $485|   $871| $1,420| $1,441| $3,010|     $4,995|     $8,626|    $15,970|   $31,367|   $41,827|    $44,683|    $45,822
Personal income per member of labor force\1\ ........|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    ---|  1,730|  1,320|  3,379|      5,745|      9,643|     19,647|    37,038|    55,984|     60,696|     61,312
Total school expenditures per capita of total        |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   population .......................................|     1.59|   1.56|   2.23|     2.83|   4.71|   9.91|  19.01|  17.89|     39|         88|        202|        427|       862|     1,368|      1,527|      1,580
National income per capita\1\ .......................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- | 772.90| 627.35|  1,595|      2,563|      4,418|     10,015|    19,555|    29,518|     31,497|     32,053
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA\6,12,13\ .......|      ---|   --- |  13.99|    16.67|  27.85|  53.32|  86.70|  88.09|    210|        375|        816|      2,272|     4,980|     7,394|      8,259|      8,600
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA\13,14\ ...........|    15.55|  12.71|  17.23|    20.21|  33.23|  64.16| 108.49| 105.74|    260|        471|        955|      2,491|     5,550|     8,592|      9,614|      9,941
National income per pupil in ADA\13\ ................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- |  4,430|  3,729| 10,680|     14,035|     21,217|     58,740|   127,690|   188,024|    201,320|    204,786
Current expenditure per day per pupil in             |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   ADA\6,13,15\ .....................................|      ---|   --- |   0.10|     0.12|   0.18|   0.33|   0.50|   0.50|   1.17|       2.11|       4.56|      12.73|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA\13\ ......|     0.12|   0.10|   0.13|     0.14|   0.21|   0.40|   0.63|   0.60|   1.46|       2.65|       5.34|      13.95|       ---|      --- |       --- |       ---
                                                     |_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|___________|__________|__________|___________|___________
                                                     |                                           Amounts in constant 2004-05 dollars \16\
                                                     |_________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Annual salary of classroom teachers\11\ .............|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- | $8,761|$15,902|$19,766|$24,363|    $32,587|    $43,773|    $39,433|   $47,354|   $47,361|    $48,068|    $48,234
Personal income per member of labor force\1\ ........|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- | 19,378| 18,105| 27,352|     37,482|     48,933|     48,513|    55,915|    63,392|     65,295|     64,539
Total school expenditures per capita of total        |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   population .......................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    100|    213|    245|    317|        573|      1,025|      1,055|     1,301|     1,549|      1,643|      1,663
National income per capita\1\  ......................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- |  8,656|  8,605| 12,913|     16,722|     22,419|     24,730|    29,522|    33,424|     33,883|     33,740
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA\6,12,13\ .......|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    536|    971|  1,208|  1,703|      2,447|      4,141|      5,610|     7,518|     8,372|      8,884|      9,053
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA\13,14\ ...........|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    645|  1,215|  1,450|  2,107|      3,073|      4,846|      6,151|     8,379|     9,729|     10,342|     10,464
National income per pupil in ADA\13\ ................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |   --- | 49,609| 51,153| 86,447|     91,560|    107,666|    145,042|   192,772|   212,902|    216,572|    215,564
Current expenditure per day per pupil in             |         |       |       |         |       |       |       |       |       |           |           |           |          |          |           |
   ADA\6,13,15\ .....................................|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    3.3|    5.6|    6.9|    9.5|       13.8|       23.1|       31.4|       ---|       ---|        ---|        ---
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA\13\ ......|      ---|   --- |   --- |     --- |   --- |    4.0|    7.1|    8.2|   11.8|       17.3|       27.1|       34.4|       ---|       ---|        ---|        ---
_____________________________________________________|_________|_______|_______|_________|_______|_______|_______|_______|_______|___________|___________|___________|__________|__________|___________|___________
---Not available.
\1\Data on population and labor force are from the Census Bureau, and data on personal income and national income are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. Population data through 1900 are based on total population from the decennial census. From 1909-10 to 1959-60, population data are total population, including armed forces overseas, as of July 1. Data for later years are for resident population that excludes armed forces overseas.
\2\Data for 1869-70 through 1959-60 are school year enrollment. Data for later years are fall enrollment.
\3\Data for 1870-71.
\4\Estimated by the National Center for Education Statistics.
\5\Prior to 1919-20, data are for the number of different persons employed rather than number of positions.
\6\Prior to 1919-20, includes interest on school debt.
\7\Because of the modification of the scope of "current expenditures for elementary and secondary schools," data for 1959-60 and later years are not entirely comparable with prior years.
\8\Beginning in 1969-70, includes capital outlay by state and local school building authorities.
\9\Includes summer schools, community colleges, and adult education. Beginning in 1959-60, also includes community services, formerly classified with "current expenditures for elementary and secondary schools."
\10\Excludes community colleges and adult education.
\11\Prior to 1959-60, average includes supervisors, principals, teachers, and other nonsupervisory instructional staff. Data for 1959-60 and later years are estimated by the National Education Association.
\12\Excludes current expenditures not allocable to pupil costs.
\13\"ADA" means average daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools.
\14\Expenditure figure is the sum of current expenditures allocable to pupil costs, capital outlay, and interest on school debt.
\15\Per-day rates derived by dividing annual rates by average length of term.
\16\Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis.
NOTE: Some data have been revised from previously published figures. Beginning in 1959-60, data include Alaska and Hawaii. Constant 2004-05 dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Annual Report of the United States Commissioner of Education, 1869-70 through 1909-10; Biennial Survey of Education in the United States, 1919-20 through 1949-50; Statistics of State School Systems, 1959-60 and 1969-70; Statistics of Public Elementary and Secondary School Systems, 1979-80; Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, FY 1980; The NCES Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1989-90 through 2002-03, and "National Public Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2002-03. Council of Economic Advisors, Economic Report of the President, various years. Census Bureau, unpublished tabulations. Bureau of Economic Analysis, unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared January 2006.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest