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Table 4.  Number of public elementary and secondary students, full-time-equivalent (FTE) teaching positions, and schools in all districts and the 100 largest school districts in the United States and jurisdictions: School years 1998–99 and 2008–09
 
District characteristic 1998–99   2008–09   Percent change
(1998–99 to 2008–09)
All districts 100 largest districts 100 largest districts as a percent of national total   All districts 100 largest districts 100 largest districts as a percent of national total   All districts 100 largest districts
Students 46,610,830 10,869,903 23.3   49,921,068 11,143,875 22.3   7.1 2.5
FTE teaching positions1 2,831,419 593,277 21.0   3,269,814 710,155 21.7   15.5 19.7
Schools2  92,885 15,412 16.6   100,713 16,905 16.8   8.4 9.7
1 Full-time equivalent (FTE) is the amount of time required to perform an assignment stated as a proportion of a full-time position. It is computed by dividing the amount of time employed by the amount of time normally required for a full-time position. FTE is not a head count; for example, two half-time employees represent one FTE.
2 Totals for number of schools may differ from published estimates since for 1998–99 they exclude closed schools, and for 2008–09, they exclude closed, inactive, and future schools. Because inactive and future schools were not distinguished in 1998–99, and therefore cannot be excluded, the school totals for 1998–99 and 2008–09 are not directly comparable.
NOTE: Data include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, four outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Bureau of Indian Education, and Department of Defense dependents schools (overseas and domestic). In 1998–99, data for the Department of Defense dependents schools (domestic) were not collected, and therefore are not included. The Department of Defense dependents schools (domestic) accounted for 0.1 percent of students, 0.1 percent of teachers, and 0.1 percent of schools among all districts in 2008–09.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/ Secondary School Universe Survey," 1998–99, Version 1a, and 2008–09, Version 1a, "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 1998–99, Version 1a, and 2008–09, Version 1a, and "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1998–99, Version 1b, and 2008–09, Version 1a.