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Digest of Education Statistics
2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 209.23. Number and percentage distribution of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and selected teacher and school characteristics: 2017-18
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected teacher or school characteristic Number of teachers (in thousands) Race/ethnicity
Total White Minority
Total Black Hispanic Asian Pacific Islander American Indian/Alaska Native Two or more races
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Teacher characteristics
      Percentage distribution of teachers in each racial/ethnic group, by teacher characteristic
Total 3,545   (23.5) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†)
Sex                                                            
Male 834   (11.6) 23.5   (0.28) 23.4   (0.33) 23.9   (0.59) 22.9   (1.06) 24.6   (0.94) 21.6   (1.50) 29.9   (5.20) 21.0   (3.49) 27.4   (1.95)
Female 2,712   (20.2) 76.5   (0.28) 76.6   (0.33) 76.1   (0.59) 77.1   (1.06) 75.4   (0.94) 78.4   (1.50) 70.1   (5.20) 79.0   (3.49) 72.6   (1.95)

Age
                                                           
Under 30 531   (9.4) 15.0   (0.24) 14.9   (0.28) 15.1   (0.53) 12.0   (0.86) 16.6   (0.84) 17.7   (1.62) 6.6 ! (2.48) 7.5   (2.19) 19.7   (1.88)
30 to 39 991   (12.9) 27.9   (0.29) 27.9   (0.33) 28.1   (0.63) 25.1   (1.09) 30.9   (0.90) 26.2   (2.04) 20.6   (4.53) 16.6   (2.57) 30.9   (2.02)
40 to 49 1,028   (12.3) 29.0   (0.32) 28.5   (0.35) 30.8   (0.63) 31.3   (1.25) 30.8   (1.01) 31.1   (1.89) 40.1   (6.13) 31.0   (3.86) 26.6   (1.91)
50 to 59 732   (11.6) 20.7   (0.29) 21.1   (0.33) 19.0   (0.55) 21.1   (1.06) 17.1   (0.79) 19.3   (1.55) 23.1   (5.08) 29.6   (4.05) 17.2   (1.84)
60 and over 263   (6.1) 7.4   (0.17) 7.5   (0.17) 7.0   (0.40) 10.4   (0.82) 4.6   (0.42) 5.6   (0.90) 9.6 ! (4.16) 15.2   (3.12) 5.5   (0.94)

Highest degree earned
                                                           
Less than bachelor's 97   (3.6) 2.7   (0.10) 2.6   (0.12) 3.2   (0.26) 3.0   (0.42) 3.6   (0.41) 1.7   (0.45)   (†) 5.3 ! (2.63) 3.2   (0.92)
Bachelor's 1,393   (15.8) 39.3   (0.36) 38.6   (0.39) 42.0   (0.79) 32.9   (1.23) 51.1   (1.20) 29.0   (1.85) 44.2   (6.46) 51.6   (3.93) 40.8   (2.33)
Master's 1,744   (17.5) 49.2   (0.36) 50.4   (0.39) 44.5   (0.74) 50.7   (1.40) 37.9   (1.06) 55.1   (2.00) 38.6   (6.15) 36.2   (4.05) 47.0   (2.50)
Education specialist1 271   (6.8) 7.6   (0.18) 7.4   (0.19) 8.5   (0.40) 11.3   (0.85) 6.1   (0.49) 11.3   (1.24) 8.7 ! (2.64) 6.2   (1.63) 7.8   (1.35)
Doctor's 41   (2.5) 1.2   (0.07) 1.0   (0.07) 1.8   (0.16) 2.1   (0.37) 1.3   (0.20) 2.8   (0.77)   (†)   (†) 1.2 ! (0.41)

Years of teaching
    experience
                                                           
Less than 3 318   (7.2) 9.0   (0.19) 8.3   (0.21) 11.4   (0.45) 10.8   (0.75) 11.8   (0.71) 12.0   (1.33) 6.7 ! (2.41) 9.0   (2.03) 12.5   (1.40)
3 to 9 1,003   (14.1) 28.3   (0.34) 27.3   (0.37) 32.2   (0.71) 30.3   (1.27) 34.0   (0.99) 31.1   (2.01) 24.0   (5.02) 20.9   (2.68) 35.5   (2.41)
10 to 20 1,416   (14.4) 39.9   (0.35) 40.1   (0.39) 39.3   (0.66) 38.7   (1.25) 39.6   (1.03) 42.1   (2.06) 44.2   (6.58) 42.5   (4.31) 34.6   (2.13)
Over 20 808   (11.8) 22.8   (0.29) 24.3   (0.34) 17.2   (0.58) 20.2   (1.03) 14.6   (0.75) 14.8   (1.44) 25.1   (5.45) 27.6   (3.92) 17.4   (1.86)

Level of instruction2
                                                           
Elementary 1,779   (24.5) 50.2   (0.62) 49.9   (0.69) 51.3   (1.04) 49.3   (1.67) 54.9   (1.34) 49.0   (2.46) 50.8   (6.18) 55.3   (4.81) 42.2   (2.41)
Secondary 1,766   (25.2) 49.8   (0.62) 50.1   (0.69) 48.7   (1.04) 50.7   (1.67) 45.1   (1.34) 51.0   (2.46) 49.2   (6.18) 44.7   (4.81) 57.8   (2.41)

School characteristics
      Percentage distribution of teachers in schools with characteristic, by race/ethnicity
Total 3,545   (23.5) 100.0   (†) 79.3   (0.35) 20.7   (0.35) 6.7   (0.20) 9.3   (0.26) 2.1   (0.10) 0.2   (0.03) 0.5   (0.05) 1.8   (0.09)

School classification
                                                           
Traditional public 3,340   (23.8) 100.0   (†) 80.0   (0.37) 20.0   (0.37) 6.5   (0.21) 9.0   (0.26) 2.1   (0.10) 0.2   (0.03) 0.5   (0.05) 1.7   (0.09)
Charter school 206   (7.7) 100.0   (†) 68.0   (1.20) 32.0   (1.20) 10.4   (0.79) 15.6   (0.90) 3.0   (0.31) 0.4   (0.12) 0.4 ! (0.13) 2.3   (0.21)

Enrollment size of school
                                                           
Under 200 176   (7.8) 100.0   (†) 83.5   (1.15) 16.5   (1.15) 6.8   (0.92) 5.5   (0.65) 1.4   (0.24) 0.3 ! (0.12) 0.8   (0.20) 1.7   (0.29)
200 to 499 1,030   (19.5) 100.0   (†) 81.7   (0.67) 18.3   (0.67) 6.5   (0.41) 7.7   (0.42) 1.7   (0.15) 0.2   (0.05) 0.7   (0.09) 1.5   (0.16)
500 to 999 1,448   (23.6) 100.0   (†) 78.4   (0.62) 21.6   (0.62) 7.0   (0.35) 10.1   (0.45) 2.1   (0.17) 0.2   (0.04) 0.5   (0.10) 1.6   (0.12)
1,000 or more 891   (22.3) 100.0   (†) 77.0   (0.75) 23.0   (0.75) 6.6   (0.39) 10.8   (0.55) 2.8   (0.21) 0.3   (0.06) 0.3   (0.05) 2.3   (0.20)

Percent of minority
    students in school3
                                                           
Less than 10 percent 396   (11.8) 100.0   (†) 97.4   (0.33) 2.6   (0.33) 0.2 ! (0.06) 1.3   (0.27) 0.4 ! (0.11)   (†) 0.2 ! (0.06) 0.6   (0.12)
10 to 24 percent 625   (16.2) 100.0   (†) 94.9   (0.35) 5.1   (0.35) 1.0   (0.15) 2.1   (0.23) 0.6   (0.11) 0.2 ! (0.07) 0.3   (0.07) 1.0   (0.15)
25 to 49 percent 828   (19.0) 100.0   (†) 89.6   (0.47) 10.4   (0.47) 2.8   (0.23) 4.3   (0.26) 1.3   (0.14) 0.1 ! (0.05) 0.4   (0.09) 1.5   (0.16)
50 to 74 percent 683   (19.6) 100.0   (†) 79.2   (0.67) 20.8   (0.67) 6.8   (0.47) 8.8   (0.53) 2.1   (0.23)   (†) 0.6   (0.11) 2.5   (0.21)
75 to 89 percent 362   (14.0) 100.0   (†) 67.5   (1.19) 32.5   (1.19) 10.8   (0.75) 14.4   (0.93) 3.8   (0.39) 0.4   (0.09) 0.5   (0.13) 2.6   (0.32)
90 percent or more 587   (17.3) 100.0   (†) 42.7   (0.86) 57.3   (0.86) 20.3   (0.85) 27.7   (1.02) 5.2   (0.44) 0.7   (0.13) 0.9   (0.21) 2.5   (0.25)

School locale
                                                           
City 1,032   (19.6) 100.0   (†) 68.5   (0.70) 31.5   (0.70) 11.8   (0.50) 14.0   (0.56) 3.1   (0.20) 0.2   (0.05) 0.3   (0.05) 2.1   (0.15)
Suburban 1,374   (23.6) 100.0   (†) 79.6   (0.63) 20.4   (0.63) 5.5   (0.34) 9.8   (0.42) 2.7   (0.19) 0.3   (0.06) 0.3   (0.07) 1.8   (0.16)
Town 413   (12.1) 100.0   (†) 86.8   (0.79) 13.2   (0.79) 3.7   (0.41) 5.8   (0.48) 0.9   (0.14) 0.3   (0.07) 0.9   (0.23) 1.7   (0.24)
Rural 727   (18.6) 100.0   (†) 89.7   (0.53) 10.3   (0.53) 3.6   (0.31) 3.8   (0.34) 0.5   (0.08) 0.1 ! (0.04) 1.0   (0.15) 1.3   (0.15)

Percent of students
    eligible for free or
    reduced-price lunch
                                                           
0 to 25 665   (19.1) 100.0   (†) 89.8   (0.57) 10.2   (0.57) 1.9   (0.25) 4.2   (0.33) 2.2   (0.25) 0.2 ! (0.07) 0.4   (0.11) 1.3   (0.18)
26 to 50 947   (21.5) 100.0   (†) 87.4   (0.53) 12.6   (0.53) 3.3   (0.32) 5.9   (0.37) 1.5   (0.14) 0.2   (0.05) 0.2   (0.05) 1.5   (0.14)
51 to 75 817   (18.2) 100.0   (†) 81.1   (0.65) 18.9   (0.65) 6.1   (0.43) 8.1   (0.49) 1.9   (0.18) 0.3   (0.06) 0.4   (0.07) 2.0   (0.21)
76 to 100 1,029   (23.0) 100.0   (†) 63.1   (0.78) 36.9   (0.78) 13.7   (0.56) 17.0   (0.65) 2.9   (0.21) 0.3   (0.07) 0.9   (0.13) 2.1   (0.17)
School does not
     participate
87   (6.5) 100.0   (†) 85.2   (1.29) 14.8   (1.29) 4.2   (0.79) 6.8   (0.90) 1.9   (0.42)   (†) 0.8 ! (0.33) 1.1   (0.26)
†Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.
1 Education specialist degrees or certificates are generally awarded for 1 year's work beyond the master's level. Includes certificate of advanced graduate studies.
2 Teachers were classified as elementary or secondary on the basis of the grades they taught, rather than on the level of the school in which they taught. In general, elementary teachers include those teaching prekindergarten through grade 6 and those teaching multiple grades, with a preponderance of grades taught being kindergarten through grade 6. In general, secondary teachers include those teaching any of grades 7 through 12 and those teaching multiple grades, with a preponderance of grades taught being grades 7 through 12 and usually with no grade taught being lower than grade 5.
3 Excludes teachers for whom the percentage of minority enrollment in the school was not available. Minority enrollment is the combined enrollment of students who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and of Two or more races.
NOTE: Data are based on a head count of full-time and part-time teachers rather than on the number of full-time-equivalent teachers reported in other tables. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and cell suppression. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2017-18. (This table was prepared May 2021.)

2021 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest