Thanks are due to Julia Naun, Michael Freeman, and Kathy Chamberlain from the Census Bureau for the creation and production of the tables. Thanks also to Chris Weaver from Pinkerton Computer Consultants, who created figure 1 as well as Yanfen Mu, who created the 1989-1990 table. Special thanks as always go to Lee Hoffman, John Sietsema, and Leslie Scott who provided data and editorial support for this report.

The author gratefully acknowledges the comments and suggestions of the reviewers. Reviewers from outside the Department of Education include: Melinda Fowler, Texas Education Agency and Sharon Lewis, Council of Great City Schools. Reviewers from the Department of Education include: Alan Ginsburg, Planning and Evaluation Services and the Office of the Budget. Thanks to Kerry Gruber, Frank Johnson, and Bruce Taylor, from NCES, for their reviews.

This is the eleventh and current publication in the series of reports on the largest school districts in the nation. The most recently published report is Characteristics of the 100 Largest Public School Districts in the United States: 1999-2000, which was published in September 2000. Copies of this report and other CCD products are available from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement by calling, toll-free, 1-877-4ED-PUBS or on the CCD Web Site at http://nces.ed.gov/ccd.