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Digest of Education Statistics
2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 216.30. Number and percentage distribution of public elementary and secondary students and schools, by traditional or charter school status and selected characteristics: Selected years, 2000-01 through 2015-16
Selected characteristic 2000-01 2005-06 2010-11 2015-16
Total, all public schools Traditional (noncharter) schools Charter schools Total, all public schools Traditional (noncharter) schools Charter schools Total, all public schools Traditional (noncharter) schools Charter schools Total, all public schools Traditional (noncharter) schools Charter schools
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Fall enrollment (in thousands) 47,061 46,612 448 48,912 47,899 1,013 49,178 47,391 1,787 50,115 47,270 2,845
                         
Percentage distribution
      of students
                       
Sex 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Male 51.4 51.4 51.2 51.4 51.4 49.9 51.4 51.4 49.5 51.4 51.5 49.6
Female 48.6 48.6 48.8 48.6 48.6 50.1 48.6 48.6 50.5 48.6 48.5 50.4
                         
Race/ethnicity 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
White 61.0 61.2 42.7 57.1 57.4 40.5 52.5 53.1 36.2 48.9 49.9 33.1
Black 17.0 16.9 33.2 17.2 16.9 32.1 16.0 15.5 28.9 15.4 14.7 26.8
Hispanic 16.6 16.6 19.4 19.8 19.8 22.4 23.1 22.9 27.3 25.9 25.6 31.7
Asian/Pacific Islander 4.2 4.2 2.9 4.6 4.6 3.6 5.0 5.0 3.7 5.3 5.4 4.3
American Indian/
      Alaska Native
1.2 1.2 1.8 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.1 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.7
Two or more races 2.4 2.3 2.9 3.4 3.4 3.4
                         
Percent of students eligible
      for free or reduced-price
      lunch program1
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 to 25.0 34.3 34.3 39.3 32.9 32.9 36.1 23.9 23.8 26.7 19.7 19.6 22.2
25.1 to 50.0 24.7 24.8 12.7 29.1 29.4 15.9 28.9 29.2 18.9 26.8 27.4 18.0
50.1 to 75.0 16.0 16.1 14.9 21.0 21.0 17.4 26.6 26.8 20.4 26.4 26.9 18.6
More than 75.0 12.4 12.4 14.7 15.9 15.8 22.0 20.1 19.7 30.7 24.4 23.9 32.6
Missing/school does not
      participate
12.5 12.4 18.4 1.0 0.9 8.6 0.5 0.4 3.2 2.6 2.3 8.7
                         
Number of teachers2 2,747,649 2,729,033 18,616 3,057,723 3,008,581 49,142 3,001,994 2,910,869 91,126 3,037,591 2,896,006 141,585
Pupil/teacher ratio2 16.4 16.4 18.2 16.0 16.0 17.3 16.4 16.4 18.0 16.2 16.1 17.9
                         
Total number of schools 93,273 91,280 1,993 97,382 93,602 3,780 98,817 93,543 5,274 98,277 91,422 6,855
                         
Percentage distribution
      of schools
                       
School level 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Elementary3 69.3 69.7 50.7 67.8 68.4 52.1 67.9 68.7 54.3 67.9 68.8 56.2
Secondary4 23.6 23.6 23.4 24.6 24.5 28.0 24.8 24.8 25.9 24.5 24.6 23.0
Combined5 5.5 5.1 22.5 5.9 5.3 18.6 6.2 5.5 19.5 6.9 5.9 20.5
Other 1.7 1.7 3.4 1.7 1.7 1.3 1.1 1.1 0.2 0.7 0.7 0.3
                         
Size of enrollment 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Less than 300 31.9 31.0 75.2 32.3 30.7 69.6 30.9 29.3 59.0 30.1 28.7 48.7
300 to 499 26.5 26.8 12.7 26.7 27.1 16.5 27.8 28.1 22.3 27.6 27.8 24.7
500 to 999 32.0 32.5 9.7 31.2 32.1 10.9 32.3 33.4 14.8 33.0 33.9 20.9
1,000 or more 9.6 9.8 2.4 9.8 10.1 3.0 9.0 9.3 3.9 9.3 9.6 5.8
                         
Racial/ethnic concentration                        
More than 50 percent White 70.2 70.6 51.6 65.4 66.2 46.5 60.4 61.7 38.4 56.5 58.2 34.4
More than 50 percent Black 11.1 10.8 25.1 11.6 10.9 26.4 10.7 9.8 25.4 9.9 8.9 23.4
More than 50 percent Hispanic 9.2 9.1 11.5 11.9 11.7 15.1 14.5 14.1 20.8 16.7 16.0 25.2
                         
Percent of students eligible
      for free or reduced-price
      lunch program1
100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 to 25.0 29.9 29.8 33.1 28.3 28.1 32.7 23.2 22.9 27.7 16.8 16.5 20.6
25.1 to 50.0 25.0 25.3 11.5 27.9 28.4 15.2 26.9 27.4 17.4 25.2 25.8 17.3
50.1 to 75.0 16.8 16.9 11.1 21.6 21.8 16.9 26.4 26.8 20.1 26.4 27.0 19.3
More than 75.0 12.2 12.2 13.1 16.6 16.4 22.7 21.3 20.7 33.1 25.1 24.4 34.7
Missing/school does not
      participate
16.2 15.8 31.1 5.6 5.3 12.5 2.2 2.3 1.7 6.5 6.4 8.2
                         
Locale 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
City 25.0 24.0 52.5 26.2 24.5 55.5 27.1 24.9 56.5
Suburban 28.2 28.4 22.2 27.4 27.8 21.3 31.7 32.1 25.9
Town 15.3 15.5 9.4 14.0 14.4 7.6 13.6 14.1 6.7
Rural 31.5 32.1 16.0 32.3 33.3 15.6 27.7 28.9 10.9
                         
Region 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Northeast 16.2 16.3 10.9 15.7 16.0 9.0 15.5 15.9 9.5 15.7 16.1 10.1
Midwest 28.7 28.8 23.3 27.9 27.9 27.4 26.4 26.6 23.1 25.8 26.1 20.9
South 33.1 33.2 27.5 33.8 34.1 26.5 34.7 35.0 29.5 34.8 34.9 32.2
West 22.0 21.6 38.3 22.6 22.0 37.2 23.4 22.5 37.9 23.8 22.9 36.8
—Not available.
1 The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program. To be eligible for free lunch under the program, a student must be from a household with an income at or below 130 percent of the poverty threshold; to be eligible for reduced-price lunch, a student must be from a household with an income between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty threshold.
2 Pupil/teacher ratio based on schools that reported both enrollment and teacher data.
3 Includes schools beginning with grade 6 or below and with no grade higher than 8.  
4 Includes schools with no grade lower than 7.
5 Includes schools beginning with grade 6 or below and ending with grade 9 or above.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2000-01 through 2015-16. (This table was prepared August 2017.)

2017 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest