The source of the data for this report is the 2003–04 Common Core of Data (CCD). Information was reported to NCES by state education agencies in the spring of 2004. There are three nonfiscal CCD surveys that collect basic descriptive data on public education in the nation: the school survey (Public School Universe Survey), local education agency survey (Local Education Agency Universe Survey), and state survey (State Nonfiscal Survey). Fiscal CCD data are gathered at the state level by NCES in the National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS) and at the local level in the Annual Survey of Local Government Finances (F-33 series of the Census of Local Governments) conducted by the Governments Division of the U.S. Census Bureau. The most recent fiscal year for which data are available is 2003. Puerto Rico fiscal data were taken from the fiscal year 2003 NPEFS.
CCD data are provided by a CCD Coordinator in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of Defense, and four outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Data for all of these states and jurisdictions are included in this report. If a data item is marked “data not available,” it indicates the state or jurisdiction did not report the data item in its CCD submission.
Districts represented in this report have various sizes and geographic locations. The District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico are each administered as one school district. Some districts comprise a substantial portion of a state’s total student membership, while others make up only a small fraction of membership.