Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected school years, 1869-70 through 2019-20

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Table 201.10.Historical summary of public elementary and secondary school statistics: Selected school years, 1869-70 through 2019-20
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		2019- 20
1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11		12		13		14		15		16		17		18		19		20		21
	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		328,330
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		53,517
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		16.3
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		50,796
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		35,551
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		15,246
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		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		94.9
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		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		47,227		47,167		47,397
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		4,434
Principals (in thousands)	---		---	---	---	---	14	31	32	43	64		91		106		126		137		168		182		184		189		194		194
Teacher aides, librarians, and guidance counselors (in thousands)⁵	---		---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	32		149		429		504		771		901		916		941		981		985		1,042
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		3,198
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		$734,688		$770,907		$794,568
Federal government	---		---	---	---	---	2	7	40	156	652		3,220		9,504		12,701		27,098		75,998		55,975		57,309		57,358		60,339		60,392
State governments	---		---	---	---	---	160	354	684	2,166	5,768		16,063		45,349		98,239		184,613		258,864		317,660		331,319		344,358		363,102		377,341
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		332,972		347,466		356,835
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		7.8		7.6
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		46.9		47.1		47.5
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		45.1		44.9
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		$734,580		$769,125		$793,719
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	639,699	⁸	666,952	⁸	682,217	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		67,248		73,130		81,335
Interest on school debt	---		---	---	---	---	18	93	131	101	490		1,171		1,874		3,776		9,135		17,232		17,501		18,338		19,409		20,443		21,428
Other current expenditures¹⁰	---		---	---	---	---	3	10	13	36	133		636		598	¹¹	2,983		5,457		8,356		7,914		7,895		8,224		8,601		8,739
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	86.0	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		10.2
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		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		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		$58,504		$59,752		$60,784		$62,271		$64,172
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		105,039		109,109		113,655
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		2,259		2,353		2,417
National income per capita¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	773	629	1,607	2,580		4,455		9,954		19,286		29,714		39,296		49,104		49,628		51,571		54,038		55,822
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		13,545		14,140		14,394
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		15,380		16,124		16,562
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		355,024		374,448		386,689
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		75.59		78.93		---
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		85.83		90.00		---
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		14,330.62		15,002.23		15,453.44
	Amounts in constant 2021-22 dollars¹⁷
Total revenues and expenditures
Total revenue receipts (in millions)	---		---	---	---	---	$14,356	$34,412	$45,619	$64,746	$141,542		$300,629		$351,950		$463,206		$621,290		$776,049		$801,570		$819,195		$835,061		$858,439		$871,158
Federal government	---		---	---	---	---	37	121	803	1,856	6,255		24,037		34,524		28,210		45,143		98,892		66,253		66,606		65,195		67,190		66,213
State governments	---		---	---	---	---	2,369	5,827	13,811	25,790	55,363		119,923		164,743		218,198		307,549		336,845		375,990		385,073		391,404		404,330		413,714
Local sources, including intermediate	---		---	---	---	---	11,950	28,464	31,005	37,100	79,924		156,669		152,682		216,798		268,599		340,313		359,327		367,515		378,462		386,919		391,231
Total expenditures for public schools (in millions)	---		---	---	---	---	$15,333	$38,172	$47,305	$69,517	$149,860		$303,739		$348,609		$472,584		$636,107		$789,879		$802,028		$821,499		$834,938		$856,454		$870,227
Current expenditures⁷	---		---	---	---	---	12,743	30,375	39,187	55,818	118,340	⁸	255,467	⁸	315,996	⁸	418,077	⁸	539,569	⁸	682,782	⁸	705,677	⁸	719,766	⁸	727,094	⁸	742,680	⁸	747,978	⁸
Capital outlay⁹	---		---	---	---	---	2,272	6,111	5,206	12,077	25,548		34,784		23,636		39,494		72,229		73,800		66,270		71,244		76,435		81,433		89,175
Interest on school debt	---		---	---	---	---	270	1,525	2,642	1,198	4,698		8,741		6,807		8,388		15,219		22,423		20,714		21,314		22,061		22,764		23,493
Other current expenditures¹⁰	---		---	---	---	---	48	162	270	424	1,273		4,747		2,171	¹¹	6,625		9,091		10,873		9,367		9,176		9,348		9,577		9,581
Teacher salaries; income and expenditures per pupil and per capita
Annual salary of classroom teachers¹²	---		---	---	---	---	$12,889	$23,396	$29,080	$35,844	$47,943		$64,401		$58,016		$69,669		$69,647		$72,050		$69,247		$69,446		$69,088		$69,341		$70,358
Personal income per member of labor force¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	28,577	26,893	41,018	56,563		74,008		72,083		82,942		95,708		101,981		118,153		117,525		119,389		121,497		124,610
Total school expenditures per capita of total population	---		---	---	---	---	147	313	361	466	843		1,508		1,549		1,915		2,280		2,575		2,501		2,543		2,568		2,620		2,650
National income per capita¹	---		---	---	---	---	---	12,735	12,691	19,133	24,763		33,262		36,162		42,836		49,501		51,133		58,120		57,680		58,616		60,174		61,202
Current expenditure per pupil in ADA^7,13,14	---		---	---	---	---	789	1,428	1,778	2,505	3,601		6,092		8,253		11,060		12,317		14,869		14,936		15,221		15,396		15,746		15,781
Total expenditure per pupil in ADA^14,15	---		---	---	---	---	946	1,788	2,134	3,101	4,521		7,130		9,048		12,320		14,308		16,962		16,773		17,178		17,481		17,955		18,158
National income per pupil in ADA¹⁴	---		---	---	---	---	---	72,987	75,442	128,093	135,594		159,737		212,557		279,706		315,314		341,605		394,544		394,073		403,527		416,964		423,963
Current expenditure per day per pupil in ADA^7,14,16	---		---	---	---	---	4.9	8.2	10.1	13.9	20.3		34.0		46.2		---		68.7		83.3		83.3		84.9		85.9		87.9		---
Total expenditure per day per pupil in ADA¹⁴	---		---	---	---	---	5.9	10.4	12.1	17.4	25.4		39.9		50.7		---		79.8		95.0		93.6		95.9		97.6		100.2		---
Total expenditure per pupil^2,15	---		---	---	---	---	708.3	1,480.3	1,849.3	2,751.4	4,117.5		6,564.0		8,317.6		8,620.2		13,381.4		15,781.8		15,715.5		16,049.0		16,288.5		16,705.6		16,943.0
---Not available.
¹Data 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.
²Data 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.
³Data for 1870-71.
⁴Estimated by the National Center for Education Statistics.
⁵Prior 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.
⁶Unadjusted (or "current") dollars have not been adjusted to compensate for inflation.
⁷Prior to 1919-20, includes interest on school debt.
⁸Because 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.
⁹Beginning in 1969-70, includes capital outlay by state and local school building authorities.
¹⁰Includes 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."
¹¹Excludes community colleges and adult education.
¹²Prior 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.
¹³Excludes current expenditures not allocable to pupil costs.
¹⁴"ADA" means average daily attendance in elementary and secondary schools.
¹⁵Expenditure figure is the sum of current expenditures allocable to pupil costs, capital outlay, and interest on school debt.
¹⁶Per-day rates derived by dividing annual rates by average length of term.
¹⁷Constant 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 2019-20; "National Public Education Financial Survey," 1989-90 through 2019-20; "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, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Nos. 1000, 1022, 1045, 1057, 1059, 1092, and 1095; 2000 through 2009 Population Estimates, retrieved January 29, 2021, from https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/intercensal-2000-2010-national.html; 2010 through 2019 Population Estimates, retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/technical-documentation/research/evaluation-estimates/2020-evaluation-estimates/2010s-national-detail.html; and 2020 through 2022 Population Estimates, retrieved October 21, 2022, from https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-state-detail.html. Bureau of Economic Analysis, retrieved June 16, 2023, from https://www.bea.gov/itable/. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, retrieved June 16, 2023, from https://stats.bls.gov/cps/tables.htm#empstat. National Education Association, Estimates of School Statistics, 1960 through 2022; and unpublished tabulations. (This table was prepared June 2023.)

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