Selected Findings: 2008–09

• There were 98,706 operating public elementary/secondary schools in the 2008–09 school year (table 1). In this school year, 1,515 schools were closed and 1,806 new schools were opened. Most operating schools were regular schools (88,801) that were responsible for instruction in the standard curriculum as well as other areas. An additional total of 2,289 schools focused primarily on special education services; 1,409 schools were identified as vocational schools; and 6,207 provided some other form of alternative education.
• Charter schools were authorized and reported by 40 states and the District of Columbia, and 34 states and the District of Columbia designated magnet schools in 2008–09 (table 2). More than 1.4 and 2.3 million students were enrolled in charter and magnet schools, respectively, in 2008-09 (table 3).
• Across all regular public schools that had membership, the overall student/teacher ratio in 2008-09 was 15.8; the ratio ranged from 11.0 in Vermont to 27.0 in Utah (table 4). This is the number of students for each full-time equivalent (FTE) teacher. The student/teacher ratio differed among school instructional levels: it was 15.6 in primary; 15.4 in middle; and 16.4 in high schools. The overall student/teacher ratio was the same as the ratio of 15.8 in 2007–08 (Hoffman 2010).
• School size differed by instructional level in 2008–09. On the average, primary schools had 447 students in membership, middle schools had 578 students, and high schools had 871 students (table 5).
• More schools (28,902) were in rural locations than in any other locale in 2008–09. An additional 22,377 were in cities; 24,559 schools were in suburban areas; and 12,162 were in towns (table 6). In contrast, the largest percentage of students attended suburban schools (34.8 percent), followed by schools in cities (28.9 percent), rural areas (24 percent), and towns (12.3 percent). These distributions were similar to those in 2007–08 (Hoffman 2010).
• Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch under the National School Lunch Program is sometimes used as a proxy measure of poverty. Across the reporting states and the District of Columbia, on average, 44.5 percent of students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2008-09, with a range from 20.5 percent in New Hampshire to 68.9 percent in District of Columbia (table 7). In the 2008-09 school year, 57.5 percent of students in city schools were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students who were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch across other locale types was 47.6 percent in towns, 40.0 percent in rural areas, and 35.8 percent in suburban areas. The overall percent of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch increased from the 43.2 percent reported in 2007–08 (Hoffman 2010).