Table 35.

Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected years, 1869–70 through 2007–08

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		2005-06		2006-07		2007-08
1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		12		13		14		15		16		17		18
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		225,055		246,819		279,040		295,753		298,593		301,580
5- to 17-year-olds (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		48,043		44,947		52,811		53,265		53,397		53,419
5- to 17-year-olds as a percent
of total population	30.3		30.0	29.5	28.4	26.5	26.4	25.8	23.0	20.3	24.7		26.0		21.3		18.2		18.9		18.0		17.9		17.7
Total enrollment in elementary and secondary  schools (in thousands)2	7,562	3	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		49,113		49,316		49,293
Prekindergarten and grades 1-8 (in thousands)	7,481	3	9,757	12,520	14,984	16,899	19,378	21,279	18,833	19,387	27,602		32,513		28,034		29,152		33,486		34,204		34,235		34,205
Grades 9-12 (in thousands)	80	3	110	203	519	915	2,200	4,399	6,601	5,725	8,485		13,037		13,616		11,390		13,371		14,909		15,081		15,087
Enrollment as a percent of total population	19.6	3	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		16.6		16.5		16.3
Enrollment as a percent of 5- to 17-year-olds	64.7	3	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		92.2		92.4		92.3
Percent of total enrollment in high schools    (grades 9-12)	1.1	3	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		30.4		30.6		30.6
High school graduates (in thousands)	—		—	22	62	111	231	592	1,143	1,063	1,627		2,589		2,748		2,320		2,554		2,816		2,892		3,000
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		45,932		46,133		46,156
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		6,835	4	—		7,858		8,250		8,267		8,261
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		90.1	4	—		94.3		—		—		93.1
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		178.5	4	—		179.4		179.6		179.2		179.0
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		160.8	4	—		169.2		—		—		166.6
Total instructional staff (in thousands)	—		—	—	—	—	678	880	912	963	1,457		2,286		2,406		2,986		3,819		4,151		4,187		4,214
Supervisors (in thousands)	—		—	—	—	—	7	7	5	—	—		—		—		—		—		—		—		—
Principals (in thousands)	—		—	—	—	—	14	31	32	43	64		91		106		126		137		156		154		158
Teachers, librarians, and other nonsupervi-     sory instructional staff (in thousands)5	201		287	364	423	523	657	843	875	920	1,393		2,195		2,300		2,860		3,682		3,995		4,033		4,056
Males (in thousands)	78		123	126	127	110	93	140	195	196	404	4	711	4	782	4	—		—		—		—		—
Females (in thousands)	123		164	238	296	413	585	703	681	724	989	4	1,484	4	1,518	4	—		—		—		—		—
Percent male	38.7		42.8	34.5	29.9	21.1	14.1	16.6	22.2	21.3	29.0	4	32.4	4	34.0	4	—		—		—		—		—
	Amounts in current dollars
Total 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		$520,622		$555,711		$584,729
Federal government	—		—	—	—	—	2	7	40	156	652		3,220		9,504		12,701		27,098		47,554		47,151		47,707
State governments	—		—	—	—	—	160	354	684	2,166	5,768		16,063		45,349		98,239		184,613		242,151		263,609		282,663
Local sources, including intermediate	—		—	—	—	—	808	1,728	1,536	3,116	8,327		20,985		42,029		97,608		161,233		230,917		244,951		254,359
Percentage distribution of revenue receipts
Federal government	—		—	—	—	—	0.3	0.4	1.8	2.9	4.4		8.0		9.8		6.1		7.3		9.1		8.5		8.2
State governments	—		—	—	—	—	16.5	16.9	30.3	39.8	39.1		39.9		46.8		47.1		49.5		46.5		47.4		48.3
Local sources, including intermediate	—		—	—	—	—	83.2	82.7	68.0	57.3	56.5		52.1		43.4		46.8		43.2		44.4		44.1		43.5
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		$528,269		$562,195		$596,610
Current expenditures6	—		—	114	180	356	861	1,844	1,942	4,687	12,329	7	34,218	7	86,984	7	188,229	7	323,889	7	449,131	7	476,814	7	506,827	7
Capital outlay8	—		—	26	35	70	154	371	258	1,014	2,662		4,659		6,506		17,781		43,357		57,375		62,863		65,780
Interest on school debt	—		—	—	—	—	18	93	131	101	490		1,171		1,874		3,776		9,135		14,347		14,713		15,695
Other current expenditures9	—		—	—	—	—	3	10	13	36	133		636		598	10	2,983		5,457		7,416		7,804		8,308
Percentage distribution of total expenditures
Current expenditures6	—		—	81.3	83.5	83.6	83.1	79.6	82.8	80.3	79.0	7	84.1	7	90.6	7	88.5	7	84.8	7	85.0	7	84.8	7	85.0	7
Capital outlay8	—		—	18.7	16.5	16.4	14.8	16.0	11.0	17.4	17.0		11.5		6.8		8.4		11.4		10.9		11.2		11.0
Interest on school debt	—		—	—	—	—	1.8	4.0	5.6	1.7	3.1		2.9		2.0		1.8		2.4		2.7		2.6		2.6
Other current expenditures9	—		—	—	—	—	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.8		1.6		0.6	10	1.4		1.4		1.4		1.4		1.4
Teacher salaries; income and expenditures
per pupil and per capita
Annual salary of classroom teachers11	$189		$195	$252	$325	$485	$871	$1,420	$1,441	$3,010	$4,995		$8,626		$15,970		$31,367		$41,807		$49,086		$51,052		$52,800
Personal income per member of labor force1	—		—	—	—	—	—	1,726	1,320	3,378	5,738		9,640		19,621		36,793		56,762		70,224		74,412		77,795
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		426		862		1,368		1,786		1,883		1,978
National income per capita1	—		—	—	—	—	—	770.44	625.82	1,592	2,550		4,412		9,990		19,449		29,953		38,119		40,293		41,105
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA6,12,13	—		—	13.99	16.67	27.85	53.32	86.70	88.09	210	375		816		2,272		4,980		7,394		9,778		10,336		10,981
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA13,14	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		11,340		12,017		12,746
National income per pupil in ADA13	—		—	—	—	—	—	4,416	3,720	10,658	13,964		21,188		58,719		127,000		190,793		245,447		260,796		268,577
Current expenditure per day per pupil in    ADA6,13,15	—		—	0.10	0.12	0.18	0.33	0.50	0.50	1.17	2.11		4.56		12.73		—		41.22		—		—		61.35
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA13	0.12		0.10	0.13	0.14	0.21	0.40	0.63	0.60	1.46	2.65		5.34		13.95		—		47.90		—		—		71.21
	Amounts in constant 2008-09 dollars16
Annual salary of classroom teachers11	—		—	—	—	—	$9,810	$17,808	$22,134	$27,282	$36,491		$49,018		$44,158		$53,028		$53,010		$52,950		$53,683		$53,537
Personal income per member of labor force1	—		—	—	—	—	—	21,649	20,274	30,614	41,919		54,781		54,254		62,200		71,973		75,753		78,247		78,881
Total school expenditures per capita of total    population	—		—	—	—	—	112	238	275	355	641		1,148		1,179		1,457		1,735		1,927		1,980		2,006
National income per capita1	—		—	—	—	—	—	9,662	9,613	14,429	18,630		25,071		27,623		32,880		37,979		41,120		42,369		41,679
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA6,12,13	—		—	—	—	—	601	1,087	1,353	1,907	2,741		4,637		6,282		8,418		9,375		10,548		10,868		11,134
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA13,14	—		—	—	—	—	723	1,361	1,624	2,360	3,441		5,427		6,887		9,383		10,894		12,232		12,637		12,924
National income per pupil in ADA13	—		—	—	—	—	—	55,376	57,142	96,601	102,012		120,402		162,361		214,700		241,920		264,771		274,235		272,327
Current expenditure per day per pupil in  ADA6,13,15	—		—	—	—	—	3.7	6.3	7.7	10.6	15.4		25.9		35.2		—		48.6		—		—		62.2
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA13	—		—	—	—	—	4.5	7.9	9.2	13.2	19.4		30.3		38.6		—		56.5		—		—		72.2

—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. 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; Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Questionnaire," 1999-2000 and 2007-08; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1989-90 through 2008-09, and "National Public Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2007-08. Census Bureau, unpublished tabulations. Bureau of Economic Analysis, unpublished tabulations. Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved October 4, 2010, from ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/lf/aat1.txt. (This table was prepared November 2010.)