Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2018-19

(77KB)

Table 201.10.

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		2009-10		2015-16		2016-17		2017-18		2018-19
1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		12		13		14		15		16		17		18		19		20
	Number
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		306,772		320,739		323,072		325,122		326,838
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		53,890		53,729		53,763		53,737		53,607
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		17.6		16.8		16.6		16.5		16.4
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		49,361		50,438		50,615		50,686		50,694
Prekindergarten through grade 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		34,409		35,388		35,477		35,496		35,498
Grades 9 through 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		14,952		15,050		15,138		15,190		15,196
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		16.1		15.7		15.7		15.6		15.5
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		91.6		93.9		94.1		94.3		94.6
Percent of total enrollment in grades 9 through 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		30.3		29.8		29.9		30.0		30.0
High school graduates (in thousands)	---		---	22	62	111	231	592	1,143	1,063	1,627		2,589		2,748		2,320		2,554		3,128		---		---		---		---
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		45,919		47,248		47,287		47,230		47,167
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		8,199		8,467		8,474		8,463		8,450
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		---		93.5		---		93.2		---
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		178.6		179.2		179.2		179.2		179.2
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		---		167.6		---		166.9		---
Total full-time-equivalent (FTE) school administra- tive and instructional staff (in thousands)	---		---	---	---	---	693	885	907	957	1,449		2,256		2,720		2,986		3,819		4,279		4,250		4,294		4,340		4,349
Principals (in thousands)	---		---	---	---	---	14	31	32	43	64		91		106		126		137		168		182		184		189		194
Teacher aides, librarians, and guidance counselors (in thousands)⁵	---		---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	32		149		429		504		771		901		916		941		981		985
Teachers (in thousands)	201		287	364	423	523	680	854	875	914	1,353		2,016		2,185		2,357		2,911		3,210		3,151		3,169		3,170		3,170
Males (in thousands)	78		123	126	127	110	96	142	195	195	392	⁴	653	⁴	743	⁴	---		731	⁴	---		730	⁴	---		745	⁴	---
Females (in thousands)	123		164	238	296	413	584	712	681	719	961	⁴	1,363	⁴	1,442	⁴	---		2,180	⁴	---		2,421	⁴	---		2,425	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	---		25.1	⁴	---		23.2	⁴	---		23.5	⁴	---
	Amounts in unadjusted dollars⁶
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		$596,391		$677,219		$704,840		$734,244		$764,716
Federal government	---		---	---	---	---	2	7	40	156	652		3,220		9,504		12,701		27,098		75,998		55,975		57,309		57,345		60,339
State governments	---		---	---	---	---	160	354	684	2,166	5,768		16,063		45,349		98,239		184,613		258,864		317,660		331,319		343,952		356,997
Local sources, including intermediate	---		---	---	---	---	808	1,728	1,536	3,116	8,327		20,985		42,029		97,608		161,233		261,529		303,583		316,212		332,947		347,380
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		12.7		8.3		8.1		7.8		7.9
State governments	---		---	---	---	---	16.5	16.9	30.3	39.8	39.1		39.9		46.8		47.1		49.5		43.4		46.9		47.0		46.8		46.7
Local sources, including intermediate	---		---	---	---	---	83.2	82.7	68.0	57.3	56.5		52.1		43.4		46.8		43.2		43.9		44.8		44.9		45.3		45.4
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		$607,018		$677,605		$706,823		$734,876		$769,039
Current expenditures⁷	---		---	114	180	356	861	1,844	1,942	4,687	12,329	⁸	34,218	⁸	86,984	⁸	188,229	⁸	323,889	⁸	524,715	⁸	596,202	⁸	619,291	⁸	639,952	⁸	666,865	⁸
Capital outlay⁹	---		---	26	35	70	154	371	258	1,014	2,662		4,659		6,506		17,781		43,357		56,715		55,989		61,298		67,346		73,131
Interest on school debt	---		---	---	---	---	18	93	131	101	490		1,171		1,874		3,776		9,135		17,232		17,501		18,338		19,356		20,443
Other current expenditures¹⁰	---		---	---	---	---	3	10	13	36	133		636		598	¹¹	2,983		5,457		8,356		7,914		7,895		8,222		8,600
Percentage distribution of total expenditures
Current expenditures⁷	---		---	81.3	83.5	83.6	83.1	79.6	82.8	80.3	79.0	⁸	84.1	⁸	90.6	⁸	88.5	⁸	84.8	⁸	86.4	⁸	88.0	⁸	87.6	⁸	87.1	⁸	86.7	⁸
Capital outlay⁹	---		---	18.7	16.5	16.4	14.8	16.0	11.0	17.4	17.0		11.5		6.8		8.4		11.4		9.3		8.3		8.7		9.2		9.5
Interest on school debt	---		---	---	---	---	1.8	4.0	5.6	1.7	3.1		2.9		2.0		1.8		2.4		2.8		2.6		2.6		2.6		2.7
Other current expenditures¹⁰	---		---	---	---	---	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.8		1.6		0.6	¹¹	1.4		1.4		1.4		1.2		1.1		1.1		1.1
Teacher salaries; income and expenditures per pupil and per capita
Annual salary of classroom teachers¹²	$189		$195	$252	$325	$485	$871	$1,420	$1,441	$3,010	$4,995		$8,626		$15,970		$31,367		$41,807		$55,370		$58,506		$59,772		$60,785		$62,355
Personal income per member of labor force¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	1,734	1,333	3,445	5,893		9,913		19,842		37,343		57,451		78,372		99,823		101,119		105,104		109,246
Total school expenditures per capita of total population	2		2	2	3	5	10	19	18	39	88		202		426		862		1,368		1,979		2,113		2,188		2,260		2,353
National income per capita¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	773	629	1,607	2,580		4,455		9,954		19,286		29,714		39,296		49,104		49,628		51,596		54,074
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA^7,13,14	---		---	14	17	28	53	87	88	210	375		816		2,272		4,980		7,394		11,427		12,619		13,096		13,550		14,138
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA^14,15	16		13	17	20	33	64	108	106	260	471		955		2,491		5,547		8,589		13,035		14,171		14,780		15,385		16,122
National income per pupil in ADA¹⁴	---		---	---	---	---	---	4,430	3,738	10,757	14,127		21,396		58,510		125,931		189,275		262,522		333,336		339,063		355,176		374,694
Current expenditure per day per pupil in ADA^7,14,16	---		---	0.10	0.12	0.18	0.33	0.50	0.50	1.17	2.11		4.56		12.73		---		41.22		64.00		70.42		73.09		75.61		78.92
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA¹⁴	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		73.02		79.10		82.48		85.86		89.99
Total expenditure per pupil^2,15	8.38		7.91	11.04	13.87	23.93	47.87	89.84	91.64	231.05	428.98		879.20		2,289.60		5,174.47		8,032.52		12,128.25		13,277.50		13,808.65		14,336.51		15,000.55
	Amounts in constant 2020-21 dollars¹⁷
Total revenues and expenditures
Total revenue receipts (in millions)	---		---	---	---	---	$13,395	$32,109	$42,566	$60,413	$132,069		$280,510		$328,396		$432,207		$579,712		$724,114		$747,927		$764,372		$778,706		$794,557
Federal government	---		---	---	---	---	34	113	750	1,732	5,836		22,428		32,214		26,322		42,121		92,274		61,819		62,149		60,817		62,693
State governments	---		---	---	---	---	2,210	5,437	12,886	24,064	51,658		111,898		153,718		203,596		286,967		314,302		350,827		359,303		364,780		370,928
Local sources, including intermediate	---		---	---	---	---	11,151	26,559	28,930	34,618	74,575		146,184		142,464		202,289		250,623		317,538		335,280		342,920		353,108		360,935
Total expenditures for public schools (in millions)	---		---	---	---	---	$14,307	$35,618	$44,139	$64,864	$139,831		$283,412		$325,279		$440,957		$593,537		$737,017		$748,354		$766,522		$779,376		$799,048
Current expenditures⁷	---		---	---	---	---	11,890	28,342	36,564	52,082	110,421	⁸	238,370	⁸	294,848	⁸	390,098	⁸	503,459	⁸	637,088	⁸	658,451	⁸	671,597	⁸	678,704	⁸	692,888	⁸
Capital outlay⁹	---		---	---	---	---	2,120	5,702	4,858	11,269	23,839		32,456		22,054		36,851		67,395		68,861		61,835		66,476		71,424		75,985
Interest on school debt	---		---	---	---	---	251	1,423	2,465	1,118	4,384		8,156		6,351		7,826		14,200		20,923		19,328		19,887		20,528		21,240
Other current expenditures¹⁰	---		---	---	---	---	45	151	252	396	1,187		4,429		2,026	¹¹	6,181		8,482		10,145		8,740		8,562		8,720		8,936
Teacher salaries; income and expenditures per pupil and per capita
Annual salary of classroom teachers¹²	---		---	---	---	---	$12,027	$21,831	$27,134	$33,445	$44,735		$60,091		$54,133		$65,007		$64,986		$67,228		$64,615		$64,820		$64,466		$64,788
Personal income per member of labor force¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	26,665	25,093	38,273	52,777		69,055		67,259		77,391		89,303		95,156		110,246		109,660		111,468		113,509
Total school expenditures per capita of total population	---		---	---	---	---	137	292	337	435	786		1,407		1,445		1,787		2,127		2,402		2,333		2,373		2,397		2,445
National income per capita¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	11,882	11,842	17,853	23,106		31,036		33,742		39,969		46,189		47,711		54,231		53,820		54,720		56,184
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA^7,13,14	---		---	---	---	---	736	1,333	1,659	2,337	3,360		5,684		7,701		10,320		11,493		13,874		13,936		14,202		14,370		14,690
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA^14,15	---		---	---	---	---	883	1,668	1,991	2,893	4,218		6,653		8,442		11,496		13,351		15,827		15,650		16,029		16,317		16,751
National income per pupil in ADA¹⁴	---		---	---	---	---	---	68,102	70,393	119,521	126,519		149,047		198,332		260,987		294,212		318,744		368,140		367,700		376,683		389,315
Current expenditure per day per pupil in ADA^7,14,16	---		---	---	---	---	4.6	7.7	9.4	13.0	18.9		31.8		43.1		---		64.1		77.7		77.8		79.3		80.2		82.0
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA¹⁴	---		---	---	---	---	5.5	9.7	11.3	16.2	23.7		37.2		47.3		---		74.4		88.7		87.4		89.5		91.1		93.5
Total expenditure per pupil^2,15	---		---	---	---	---	660.9	1,381.2	1,725.5	2,567.2	3,841.9		6,124.8		7,761.0		8,043.3		12,485.9		14,725.6		14,663.8		14,974.9		15,204.6		15,585.9

---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. The total counts of ungraded students and those whose grade was not specified were prorated into either the prekindergarten through grade 8 level or the grades 9 through 12 level based on the known grade-level distribution of a state.

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. Prior to 1959-60, a small number of other instructional staff are included with teachers.

⁶ Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.

⁷ Prior to 1919-20, includes interest on school debt.

⁸ 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.

⁹ Beginning in 1969-70, includes capital outlay by state and local school building authorities.

¹⁰ 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."

¹¹ Excludes community colleges and adult education.

¹² 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.

¹³ Excludes current expenditures not allocable to pupil costs.

¹⁴ "ADA" means average daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools.

¹⁵ Expenditure figure is the sum of current expenditures allocable to pupil costs, capital outlay, and interest on school debt.

¹⁶ Per-day rates derived by dividing annual rates by average length of term.

¹⁷ 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. No Consumer Price Index data available for years prior to 1919-20.

NOTE: Data in this table represent the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning in 1959-60, data include Alaska and Hawaii. Some data have been revised from previously published figures. 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, 2007-08, and 2011-12; Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 1989-90 through 2018-19; "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2018-19; "State Dropout and Completion Data File," 2012-13; and National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Data File," 2015-16 and 2017-18. U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/research/evaluation-estimates/2020-evaluation-estimates/2010s-national-detail.html; Bureau of Economic Analysis, retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://www.bea.gov/itable/. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved April 21, 2022, from https://stats.bls.gov/cps/tables.htm#empstat. National Education Association, Estimates of School Statistics, 1960 through 2021; and unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared April 2022.)

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