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Digest of Education Statistics
2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 209.22. Number and percentage distribution of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by instructional level and selected teacher and school characteristics: School years 1999-2000, 2017-18, and 2020-21
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Selected teacher or school characteristic Number of teachers (in thousands) Percentage distribution of teachers
Total Elementary Secondary Total Elementary Secondary
1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21 1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21 1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21 1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21 1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21 1999-2000 2017-18 2020-21
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
Total 3,002   (19.4) 3,545   (23.5) 3,764   (44.5) 1,602   (13.5) 1,779   (24.5) 1,884   (30.1) 1,401   (17.7) 1,766   (25.2) 1,880   (36.3) 100   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†) 100.0   (†)
Sex                                                                                                            
Male 754   (10.7) 834   (11.6) 873   (16.5) 185   (5.4) 201   (6.2) 202   (5.9) 569   (9.3) 633   (11.9) 672   (15.2) 25   (0.3) 23.5   (0.28) 23.2   (0.31) 11.5   (0.32) 11.3   (0.31) 10.7   (0.27) 40.6   (0.44) 35.8   (0.42) 35.7   (0.38)
Female 2,248   (16.0) 2,712   (20.2) 2,890   (34.7) 1,417   (12.7) 1,578   (22.4) 1,683   (27.7) 832   (12.5) 1,134   (17.6) 1,208   (23.9) 75   (0.3) 76.5   (0.28) 76.8   (0.31) 88.5   (0.32) 88.7   (0.31) 89.3   (0.27) 59.4   (0.44) 64.2   (0.42) 64.3   (0.38)

Race/ethnicity
                                                                                                           
White1 2,532   (17.2) 2,811   (22.7) 3,007   (37.5) 1,342   (13.8) 1,402   (22.3) 1,499   (26.9) 1,190   (15.8) 1,409   (22.6) 1,507   (29.0) 84   (0.3) 79.3   (0.35) 79.9   (0.34) 83.8   (0.50) 78.8   (0.56) 79.6   (0.54) 85.0   (0.34) 79.8   (0.46) 80.2   (0.45)
Black1 228   (6.0) 239   (7.4) 228   (8.3) 122   (5.2) 118   (5.7) 111   (5.4) 106   (3.5) 121   (5.1) 117   (5.8) 8   (0.2) 6.7   (0.20) 6.1   (0.20) 7.6   (0.32) 6.6   (0.31) 5.9   (0.28) 7.5   (0.24) 6.8   (0.27) 6.2   (0.26)
Hispanic1 169   (6.4) 331   (9.2) 355   (10.1) 95   (5.2) 182   (7.4) 194   (8.1) 74   (4.1) 149   (5.4) 162   (6.6) 6   (0.2) 9.3   (0.26) 9.4   (0.24) 5.9   (0.32) 10.2   (0.39) 10.3   (0.39) 5.3   (0.27) 8.5   (0.30) 8.6   (0.30)
Asian1,2 48   (2.7) 75   (3.5) 89   (4.0) 30   (2.3) 37   (2.8) 43   (3.0) 18   (1.2) 38   (2.3) 46   (2.8) 2   (0.1) 2.1   (0.10) 2.4   (0.10) 1.9   (0.15) 2.1   (0.15) 2.3   (0.16) 1.3   (0.08) 2.2   (0.13) 2.5   (0.14)
Pacific Islander ---   (†) 8   (1.0) 6   (0.8) ---   (†) 4   (0.8) 2   (0.5) ---   (†) 4   (0.7) 4   (0.6) ---   (†) 0.2   (0.03) 0.2   (0.02) ---   (†) 0.2   (0.04) 0.1   (0.03) ---   (†) 0.2   (0.04) 0.2   (0.03)
American Indian/
     Alaska Native1
26   (1.9) 18   (1.7) 16   (1.6) 13   (1.5) 10   (1.5) 6   (1.0) 13   (0.8) 8   (0.9) 10   (1.3) 1   (0.1) 0.5   (0.05) 0.4   (0.04) 0.8   (0.09) 0.6   (0.08) 0.3   (0.05) 0.9   (0.06) 0.5   (0.05) 0.5   (0.07)
Two or more races ---   (†) 63   (3.1) 62   (2.9) ---   (†) 26   (2.1) 29   (2.0) ---   (†) 36   (2.2) 33   (1.9) ---   (†) 1.8   (0.09) 1.6   (0.08) ---   (†) 1.5   (0.12) 1.5   (0.11) ---   (†) 2.0   (0.12) 1.8   (0.10)

Age
                                                                                                           
Under 30 509   (9.2) 531   (9.4) 535   (11.3) 270   (7.7) 280   (8.3) 290   (8.6) 239   (5.4) 251   (6.5) 245   (6.7) 17   (0.3) 15.0   (0.24) 14.2   (0.23) 16.9   (0.46) 15.7   (0.40) 15.4   (0.36) 17.1   (0.30) 14.2   (0.30) 13.0   (0.27)
30 to 39 661   (9.8) 991   (12.9) 1,016   (14.3) 362   (7.1) 502   (11.4) 523   (10.7) 298   (5.9) 489   (9.1) 493   (10.6) 22   (0.3) 27.9   (0.29) 27.0   (0.29) 22.6   (0.42) 28.2   (0.45) 27.8   (0.41) 21.3   (0.33) 27.7   (0.35) 26.2   (0.38)
40 to 49 953   (10.3) 1,028   (12.3) 1,073   (14.6) 521   (8.8) 524   (10.2) 528   (11.5) 432   (7.3) 504   (10.2) 545   (11.5) 32   (0.3) 29.0   (0.32) 28.5   (0.27) 32.5   (0.52) 29.5   (0.46) 28.0   (0.42) 30.9   (0.35) 28.5   (0.42) 29.0   (0.39)
50 to 59 786   (12.6) 732   (11.6) 841   (14.4) 396   (9.5) 356   (9.1) 415   (9.9) 390   (8.1) 376   (9.0) 426   (11.6) 26   (0.4) 20.7   (0.29) 22.3   (0.27) 24.7   (0.52) 20.0   (0.42) 22.0   (0.40) 27.8   (0.47) 21.3   (0.39) 22.7   (0.36)
60 and over 93   (4.0) 263   (6.1) 300   (10.7) 52   (3.6) 118   (4.0) 129   (5.5) 41   (1.7) 146   (4.7) 171   (8.1) 3   (0.1) 7.4   (0.17) 8.0   (0.24) 3.2   (0.21) 6.6   (0.23) 6.8   (0.26) 2.9   (0.12) 8.3   (0.25) 9.1   (0.34)

Highest degree earned
                                                                                                           
Less than bachelor's 20   (1.3) 97   (3.6) 31   (2.6) 4   (0.8) 37   (2.7) 6   (0.9) 16   (0.9) 60   (2.9) 24   (2.4) 1   (0.0) 2.7   (0.10) 0.8   (0.07) 0.2   (0.05) 2.1   (0.15) 0.3   (0.05) 1.2   (0.07) 3.4   (0.16) 1.3   (0.12)
Bachelor's 1,560   (15.8) 1,393   (15.8) 1,437   (24.7) 872   (13.3) 757   (14.2) 773   (17.9) 688   (10.1) 636   (11.6) 663   (17.1) 52   (0.4) 39.3   (0.36) 38.2   (0.41) 54.4   (0.65) 42.6   (0.53) 41.0   (0.54) 49.2   (0.47) 36.0   (0.49) 35.3   (0.56)
Postbaccalaureate 1,422   (15.2) 2,056   (19.4) 2,297   (29.0) 726   (11.6) 985   (16.5) 1,105   (17.8) 696   (12.0) 1,070   (19.1) 1,192   (24.4) 47   (0.4) 58.0   (0.38) 61.0   (0.42) 45.3   (0.65) 55.4   (0.53) 58.6   (0.53) 49.7   (0.48) 60.6   (0.52) 63.4   (0.57)
Master's 1,257   (13.9) 1,744   (17.5) 1,928   (27.2) 645   (10.9) 838   (14.7) 930   (16.3) 613   (10.7) 907   (17.0) 998   (22.1) 42   (0.4) 49.2   (0.36) 51.2   (0.41) 40.3   (0.61) 47.1   (0.53) 49.3   (0.53) 43.7   (0.44) 51.3   (0.49) 53.1   (0.58)
Education
      specialist3
143   (5.2) 271   (6.8) 318   (7.3) 74   (4.2) 135   (5.2) 161   (5.8) 68   (2.9) 136   (4.8) 157   (4.6) 5   (0.2) 7.6   (0.18) 8.4   (0.20) 4.6   (0.26) 7.6   (0.27) 8.5   (0.29) 4.9   (0.19) 7.7   (0.26) 8.3   (0.23)
Doctor's 22   (1.8) 41   (2.5) 51   (2.8) 7   (1.3) 13   (1.5) 14   (1.6) 15   (1.1) 28   (2.0) 37   (2.5) 1   (0.1) 1.2   (0.07) 1.4   (0.07) 0.4   (0.08) 0.7   (0.08) 0.8   (0.09) 1.1   (0.08) 1.6   (0.11) 2.0   (0.13)

Years of teaching
   experience
                                                                                                           
Less than 3 325   (7.7) 318   (7.2) 274   (8.2) 171   (6.3) 167   (6.0) 137   (6.1) 154   (4.5) 152   (4.9) 137   (5.1) 11   (0.2) 9.0   (0.19) 7.3   (0.18) 10.7   (0.38) 9.4   (0.30) 7.3   (0.27) 11.0   (0.27) 8.6   (0.23) 7.3   (0.22)
3 to 9 854   (12.3) 1,003   (14.1) 1,095   (14.3) 458   (9.2) 519   (11.9) 559   (10.9) 396   (8.0) 484   (9.1) 536   (11.7) 28   (0.4) 28.3   (0.34) 29.1   (0.28) 28.6   (0.51) 29.2   (0.50) 29.7   (0.41) 28.3   (0.50) 27.4   (0.41) 28.5   (0.39)
10 to 20 865   (10.1) 1,416   (14.4) 1,404   (18.9) 484   (8.5) 694   (12.7) 701   (13.3) 381   (7.1) 722   (13.3) 703   (14.5) 29   (0.3) 39.9   (0.35) 37.3   (0.29) 30.2   (0.51) 39.0   (0.51) 37.2   (0.45) 27.2   (0.39) 40.9   (0.45) 37.4   (0.41)
Over 20 958   (13.5) 808   (11.8) 991   (18.0) 489   (9.6) 399   (8.9) 487   (11.5) 469   (9.0) 409   (9.7) 504   (14.3) 32   (0.4) 22.8   (0.29) 26.3   (0.31) 30.5   (0.52) 22.4   (0.42) 25.9   (0.41) 33.5   (0.43) 23.2   (0.43) 26.8   (0.45)

Certification type4
                                                                                                           
Regular 2,599   (18.6) 3,205   (22.0) 3,380   (38.7) 1,407   (13.3) 1,624   (23.1) 1,711   (27.6) 1,192   (16.1) 1,581   (23.2) 1,669   (31.4) 87   (0.2) 90.4   (0.19) 89.8   (0.22) 87.8   (0.38) 91.3   (0.27) 90.8   (0.27) 85.1   (0.33) 89.5   (0.26) 88.8   (0.31)
Probationary 83   (3.0) 108   (4.0) 105   (4.1) 41   (2.8) 51   (2.9) 46   (2.5) 42   (2.0) 57   (2.6) 59   (3.2) 3   (0.1) 3.0   (0.11) 2.8   (0.10) 2.6   (0.17) 2.9   (0.16) 2.5   (0.13) 3.0   (0.14) 3.2   (0.14) 3.1   (0.15)
Provisional or
     temporary
97   (4.2) 137   (4.7) 157   (4.6) 54   (3.7) 61   (3.2) 70   (3.1) 43   (2.1) 76   (3.3) 86   (3.6) 3   (0.1) 3.9   (0.13) 4.2   (0.12) 3.3   (0.23) 3.4   (0.18) 3.7   (0.15) 3.1   (0.14) 4.3   (0.17) 4.6   (0.18)
Waiver or emergency 51   (2.7) 35   (2.0) 48   (2.5) 27   (2.2) 13   (1.2) 21   (1.9) 25   (1.5) 22   (1.5) 27   (1.9) 2   (0.1) 1.0   (0.06) 1.3   (0.07) 1.7   (0.14) 0.7   (0.07) 1.1   (0.10) 1.8   (0.10) 1.3   (0.09) 1.4   (0.10)
No certification 173   (5.4) 61   (2.8) 74   (6.2) 74   (3.7) 30   (2.1) 35   (3.5) 99   (4.1) 31   (1.8) 38   (3.8) 6   (0.2) 1.7   (0.08) 2.0   (0.15) 4.6   (0.22) 1.7   (0.11) 1.9   (0.18) 7.1   (0.28) 1.7   (0.10) 2.0   (0.19)

School classification
                                                                                                           
Traditional public 2,985   (19.5) 3,340   (23.8) 3,513   (39.4) 1,591   (13.5) 1,678   (24.0) 1,763   (29.5) 1,393   (17.7) 1,662   (25.6) 1,750   (33.3) 99   (0.0) 94.2   (0.22) 93.3   (0.30) 99.4   (0.01) 94.3   (0.28) 93.6   (0.34) 99.5   (0.02) 94.1   (0.29) 93.1   (0.40)
Charter school 17   (0.3) 206   (7.7) 251   (12.5) 10   (0.2) 101   (5.0) 121   (6.5) 7   (0.2) 104   (5.0) 129   (8.4) 1   (0.0) 5.8   (0.22) 6.7   (0.30) 0.6   (0.01) 5.7   (0.28) 6.4   (0.34) 0.5   (0.02) 5.9   (0.29) 6.9   (0.40)

School locale
                                                                                                           
City ---   (†) 1,032   (19.6) 1,047   (27.7) ---   (†) 545   (16.4) 532   (16.4) ---   (†) 487   (14.7) 514   (20.5) ---   (†) 29.1   (0.50) 27.8   (0.65) ---   (†) 30.6   (0.81) 28.2   (0.85) ---   (†) 27.6   (0.77) 27.4   (0.87)
Suburban ---   (†) 1,374   (23.6) 1,453   (26.5) ---   (†) 668   (18.2) 732   (20.2) ---   (†) 705   (21.2) 721   (20.6) ---   (†) 38.7   (0.63) 38.6   (0.68) ---   (†) 37.6   (0.85) 38.8   (0.91) ---   (†) 39.9   (0.99) 38.3   (0.94)
Town ---   (†) 413   (12.1) 450   (19.1) ---   (†) 206   (9.0) 219   (12.5) ---   (†) 207   (9.1) 231   (12.4) ---   (†) 11.6   (0.33) 12.0   (0.45) ---   (†) 11.6   (0.49) 11.6   (0.59) ---   (†) 11.7   (0.48) 12.3   (0.60)
Rural ---   (†) 727   (18.6) 815   (23.7) ---   (†) 360   (13.0) 401   (16.4) ---   (†) 367   (12.9) 414   (16.0) ---   (†) 20.5   (0.51) 21.6   (0.56) ---   (†) 20.2   (0.70) 21.3   (0.76) ---   (†) 20.8   (0.70) 22.0   (0.76)

Percent of students
   eligible for free or
   reduced-price lunch
                                                                                                           
0 to 25 1,117   (20.4) 665   (19.1) 705   (19.1) 463   (13.0) 312   (12.6) 336   (13.9) 653   (14.9) 354   (15.1) 369   (13.8) 37   (0.6) 18.8   (0.52) 18.7   (0.50) 28.9   (0.81) 17.5   (0.68) 17.8   (0.70) 46.6   (0.83) 20.0   (0.76) 19.6   (0.72)
26 to 50 719   (18.4) 947   (21.5) 947   (25.5) 399   (13.2) 401   (13.8) 419   (16.1) 320   (10.4) 546   (15.8) 528   (18.7) 24   (0.6) 26.7   (0.60) 25.2   (0.63) 24.9   (0.79) 22.5   (0.69) 22.2   (0.79) 22.9   (0.73) 30.9   (0.81) 28.1   (0.87)
51 to 75 463   (15.8) 817   (18.2) 771   (24.7) 294   (12.7) 411   (13.4) 372   (18.3) 169   (8.8) 405   (13.9) 399   (16.1) 15   (0.5) 23.0   (0.50) 20.5   (0.54) 18.4   (0.76) 23.1   (0.70) 19.8   (0.87) 12.1   (0.59) 23.0   (0.71) 21.2   (0.70)
76 to 100 390   (13.2) 1,029   (23.0) 1,216   (28.7) 275   (12.0) 621   (17.2) 712   (20.1) 114   (6.7) 408   (13.9) 505   (20.2) 13   (0.4) 29.0   (0.59) 32.3   (0.65) 17.2   (0.72) 34.9   (0.82) 37.8   (0.93) 8.2   (0.47) 23.1   (0.74) 26.9   (0.86)
School does not
     participate
314   (11.4) 87   (6.5) 124   (7.6) 170   (10.8) 34   (4.0) 45   (4.9) 144   (5.7) 53   (4.8) 79   (6.0) 10   (0.4) 2.5   (0.18) 3.3   (0.20) 10.6   (0.69) 1.9   (0.22) 2.4   (0.26) 10.3   (0.38) 3.0   (0.27) 4.2   (0.31)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
1The new category of Two or more races was introduced in 2003-04. Prior to 2003-04, respondents were asked to select only one race category from the options of White, Black, Asian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native.
2Includes Pacific Islander for 1999-2000.
3Education specialist degrees or certificates are generally awarded for 1 year's work beyond the master's level. Includes certificate of advanced graduate studies.
4Refers to certification of teachers to teach in the state where they are currently teaching. A teaching certificate is probationary if all requirements have been satisfied except completion of a probationary period. It is provisional or temporary if additional coursework, student teaching, or passage of a test is required to obtain regular certification. It is a waiver or emergency certificate if a certification program must be completed to continue teaching.
NOTE: Excludes teachers who teach only prekindergarten. 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. 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. 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, Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), "Public School Teacher Data File," "Charter School Teacher Data File," "Public School Data File," and "Charter School Data File," 1999-2000; and National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher Data File," 2017–18 and 2020-21. (This table was prepared September 2022.)

2022 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest