Elementary and Secondary Education

School Characteristics and Climate

Table A-12-1. Number and percentage distribution of schools, by control and selected school characteristics: School years 1999–2000 and 2009–10

School characteristic	1999–2000					2009–10
	Total¹	Public			Private	Total¹	Public			Private
	Total¹	Total	Traditional	Charter	Private	Total¹	Total	Traditional	Charter	Private
	Number
Total, all schools	125,012	92,012	90,488	1,524	33,000	132,217	98,817	93,865	4,952	33,400

School level
Elementary	86,431	64,131	63,299	832	22,300	88,540	67,140	64,461	2,679	21,400
Secondary	24,865	22,365	21,971	394	2,500	27,451	24,651	23,322	1,329	2,800
Combined	12,242	4,042	3,758	284	8,200	14,930	5,730	4,801	929	9,200
Other (ungraded)²	1,474	1,474	1,460	14	†	1,296	1,296	1,281	15	†

School type
Regular	114,802	84,902	83,558	1,344	29,900	119,318	89,018	84,589	4,429	30,300
Special education	3,347	1,947	1,940	7	1,400	3,889	2,089	2,006	83	1,800
Vocational	1,048	1,048	1,040	8	#	1,417	1,417	1,397	20	#
Alternative	5,815	4,115	3,950	165	1,700	7,593	6,293	5,873	420	1,300

	Percentage distribution
School level	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Elementary	69.1	69.7	70.0	54.6	67.6	67.0	67.9	68.7	54.1	64.1
Secondary	19.9	24.3	24.3	25.9	7.6	20.8	24.9	24.8	26.8	8.4
Combined	9.8	4.4	4.2	18.6	24.8	11.3	5.8	5.1	18.8	27.5
Other (ungraded)²	1.2	1.6	1.6	0.9	†	1.0	1.3	1.4	0.3	†

School type	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Regular	91.8	92.3	92.3	88.2	90.6	90.2	90.1	90.1	89.4	90.7
Special education	2.7	2.1	2.1	0.5	4.2	2.9	2.1	2.1	1.7	5.4
Vocational	0.8	1.1	1.1	0.5	#	1.1	1.4	1.5	0.4	#
Alternative	4.7	4.5	4.4	10.8	5.2	5.7	6.4	6.3	8.5	3.9

Enrollment size	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Fewer than 300	44.8	31.3	30.5	77.0	81.4	45.1	31.3	29.7	61.3	84.6
300–499	22.4	26.5	26.7	12.0	11.3	22.8	27.7	28.0	21.0	9.0
500–999	25.6	32.8	33.2	8.7	6.3	25.1	32.1	33.1	14.0	5.3
1,000 or more	7.2	9.5	9.7	2.4	1.0	6.9	9.0	9.3	3.7	1.0

Racial/ethnic concentration of schools
More than 50 percent White	73.5	70.9	71.2	51.1	80.3	65.6	62.3	63.4	40.5	75.2
More than 50 percent Black	10.3	11.1	10.8	26.5	8.0	10.5	11.4	10.6	26.1	7.9
More than 50 percent Hispanic	7.4	8.8	8.7	11.4	3.7	11.6	14.0	13.7	20.0	4.6

Percentage of students in school eligible
for free or reduced-price lunch	—	100.0	100.0	100.0	—	—	100.0	100.0	100.0	—
0–25 percent	—	30.6	30.6	35.8	—	—	20.4	20.4	19.2	—
26–50 percent	—	25.6	25.9	11.1	—	—	27.0	27.6	17.2	—
51–75 percent	—	16.8	16.9	10.2	—	—	25.5	25.7	20.9	—
76–100 percent	—	11.9	11.9	12.4	—	—	19.9	19.2	32.9	—
Missing/school did not participate	—	15.0	14.7	30.6	—	—	7.2	7.1	9.8	—

Region	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Northeast	18.4	16.1	16.3	7.2	24.7	17.4	15.5	15.9	9.1	22.9
Midwest	27.7	28.9	29.0	24.9	24.1	26.3	26.7	26.8	24.0	25.2
South	32.2	33.1	33.2	28.9	29.7	33.7	34.5	34.8	29.5	31.4
West	21.7	21.8	21.6	38.9	21.4	22.6	23.3	22.5	37.4	20.4

School locale	—	—	—	—	—	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
City	—	—	—	—	—	27.7	26.1	24.6	54.8	32.4
Suburban	—	—	—	—	—	29.3	27.4	27.7	21.1	34.8
Town	—	—	—	—	—	13.1	14.2	14.5	8.0	10.0
Rural	—	—	—	—	—	29.9	32.4	33.2	16.1	22.8

– Not available.
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
¹ Total number of schools does not always equal the sum of schools by level because the total may include ungraded schools and schools that did not report grade spans.
² Total is only for public schools, as data for private schools were not applicable.
NOTE: Schools that did not report enrollment were excluded from the percentage distribution. Combined schools are those that have both elementary and secondary grades. Public school data are universe estimates and are rounded to whole numbers. Private school data are sample estimates and are rounded to the nearest 100. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. For more information on race/ethnicity, the free or reduced-price lunch program, region, and locale, see Appendix C – Commonly Used Measures. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. For more information on the Common Core of Data (CCD) or the Private School Survey (PSS), see Appendix B – Guide to Sources.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 1999–2000 (version 1b) and 2009–10 (version 1b); and Private School Survey (PSS), 1999–2000 and 2009–10.

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