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Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1994-95
NCES 96-219
September 1996
Types of Public Schools
In the 1994-95 school year 84,705 public schools provided instruction to 44.1 million students in the United States (table 1). 1 This was an increase of about 1 percent over the previous year, for both students and schools. Most of these institutions were regular schools (79,946). While regular schools often provide a range of special, vocational, and alternative programs in addition to their traditional curriculum offerings, there are some schools that offer only these specialized programs. Among this group in 1994-95 were 1,796 schools whose major function was to provide special education for disabled students and 359 schools identified as vocational. There were 2,604 schools offering other alternative programs, an increase of about 15 percent from 1993-94.
The great majority of public school students, 98.2 percent, were enrolled in regular schools. An additional 0.5 percent were in special education schools, 0.4 percent in vocational schools, and 1.0 percent in alternative schools. New Hampshire and North Dakota served all of their public school students in regular schools. Delaware had the largest proportion of students in non-regular schools, a total of 7.6 percent.
1 See Key Terms. Although the outlying areas are included in the tables, national totals exclude American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. Comparisons are based on the Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 1993-94
Schools and Community Size
Table 2 shows that while one in eight schools was located in a large city (12.7 percent), one out of six public school students (17.3 percent) attended large city schools. The greatest number of schools were in rural locales (26.6 percent) but rural schools accounted for only 15.6 percent of all students. Overall, seven-tenths of public school students attended schools within, or on the fringes of, large and midsize cities.
Primary, Middle, High Schools
Among the 84,705 public schools with students in membership during the 1994-95 school year, about 59.5 percent spanned the traditional primary grades, typically beginning with prekindergarten or kindergarten and going no higher than grade 8 (table 3); see Key Terms for complete definitions of instructional levels). About half (50.7 percent) of the nation's public school students were enrolled in these schools. An additional 17.0 percent of the schools covered the upper elementary and middle grades, and offered instruction to 19.5 percent of public school students.High schools represented 18.7 percent of the schools reported, and enrolled 26.6 percent of the total number of students. About 4.9 percent of schools (serving 3. 1 percent of the students) followed some other grade configuration, including schools that spanned all of grades kindergarten through 12 and those that were ungraded.
School District Grade Spans
In 1994-95 there were 14,909 public education agencies providing education services directly to students in the United States2. Some of these were operated directly by states or federal agencies, or had a primary role other than that of administering regular educational services. However, the majority of public education agencies (14,400) were regular school districts providing education to children within their jurisdiction (table 4).
2There were 16,257 education agencies in 1994–95. Of these, 14,772 were regular school districts and 1,485 were agencies that typically offer research, administrative, or other support to client agencies. Some 372 of the regular school districts and 976 of the other agencies did not report students. The 14,909 agencies cited exclude the 1,352 without students.
States varied in the organization of their regular education agencies. Hawaii and the District of Columbia each consist of a single school district. Forty of the other 49 states served 90 percent or more of their students in comprehensive districts that spanned the elementary and secondary grades. However, in seven states, fewer than 80 percent of the students were enrolled in comprehensive districts.
Among the 14,400 regular school districts with pupils in membership, 3,212 were responsible for only the elementary grades, beginning with grades prekindergarten, kindergarten, or one and ending at grade eight or below (table 4). These districts enrolled 5.8 percent of the nation's public school students. An additional 538 agencies could be characterized as secondary school districts, with a lowest grade of 7 or higher and a highest grade of 12. Some 2.2 percent of all students attended schools in these districts. However, almost three out of four districts (10,525) managed instruction from the beginning of school through graduation. Fully 91.8 percent of all students were enrolled in these comprehensive school districts.
School District Size
School districts ranged greatly in size, as measured by the number of students in membership. A very few districts (22) enrolled 100,000 or more students while a larger number (1,742) reported fewer than 150 students (table 5).
However, while small in number, the largest districts served a considerable portion of America's public school students. Although only about 1.5 percent of districts served 25,000 or more students, fully 29.9 percent of students received their education in these largest districts. To show the contrast from a different perspective, almost half of the school districts in the United States had fewer than 1,000 students in 1994–95. At the same time, almost half of the public school students in this country attended schools in districts of 10,000 students or more.
Student Characteristics
Because participation in the Free Lunch Program depends on family income, eligibility for this program is often used to estimate student needs. Ten states did not report freelunch eligibility data for at least 70 percent of their schools, so national totals could not be calculated. Within those states and schools that did provide this information, the proportion of students who were reported as eligible to receive a free lunch ranged from just over 13 percent in Hawaii and New Hampshire to about 64 percent in the District of Columbia and more than 50 percent in Louisiana and Mississippi (see table 6).
Two states did not report the number of students with individual education programs (IEPs), who participate in special education services. Among the states for which this information was available, the percentage of students with IEPs ranged from 4.3 percent in Illinois to more than 15 percent in Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and North Carolina, and Rhode Island.
About two-thirds of the public school students in the United States in 1994-95 were white, non-Hispanic and about one-sixth were black, non-Hispanic. The highest proportion of American Indian/Alaskan native students was found in Alaska (comprising 23.8 percent of that state's students), while the greatest proportion of Asian/Pacific Islander students was in Hawaii (68.8 percent). More than one-third of the students were Hispanic in California, New Mexico and Texas. Over half of the students were black, non-Hispanic, in the District of Columbia and Mississippi. White, non-Hispanic students comprised less than half of the student membership in six states, but represented 90 percent or more of the students in seven states. Across the country, the proportion of students who were Hispanic increased by about 0.5 percent from the previous year, while the proportion who were white, non-Hispanic declined by a similar amount. There were minimal changes in the distribution of students among other racial/ethnic groups.
Technical Notes
The Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey and Public Education Agency Survey are annual state-level collections of information about the numbers and types of public schools and education agencies, the numbers and selected characteristics of students, dropouts, and numbers of staff. These two surveys also include directory information such as school and agency names, addresses and telephone numbers. The School and Agency Surveys are part of the Common Core of Data (CCD) collection of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), and use information reported by state education agencies.
Not all states collect and report all of the data items on these surveys. NCES estimates, or imputes, missing data if an item has been reported in the past. If an item has been reported, it is not imputed but it is shown as "missing." When information is missing for one or more states, as is the case with counts of students eligible for the federal Free Lunch Program, NCES does not calculate national totals. Because some students may receive a public education outside a local school district or school (for example, in a state-operated residential school) the numbers of students are not the official state totals. The numbers of students shown in table 1 are taken from the State Nonfiscal Survey of the CCD. The percentages of students shown in tables are based on the School or Agency Surveys.
Key Terms
A public school provides educational services to students, has an assigned administrator, receives public funds as its primary support, and is operated by an education agency. A single school may operate at multiple locations (for example, an urban "storefront school" for potential dropouts with a single principal responsible for programs at several addresses). Also, two schools may operate at the same location, as is the case when a kindergarten-grade 12 facility has both an elementary and a high school principal. This report excluded 1,516 schools that did not report any students in membership for the 1994-95 school year.
Regular schools do not focus primarily on special, vocational, or alternative education, although they may offer these programs in addition to the regular curriculum. A special education school focuses primarily on special education, with materials and instructional approaches adapted to meet the students' needs. A vocational education school focuses primarily on vocational education and provides education or training in at least one semiskilled or technical occupation. An alternative education schooladdresses the needs of students that typically cannot be met in the regular school setting, and provides nontraditional education.
Membershipis the annual headcount of students enrolled in school on October 1, or the school day closest to that date. In any given year, some small schools will not have any pupils. And, in reporting to the CCD, states assign students who attend more than one school to a single school rather than prorating students across all the schools they attend.
Instructional levels are calculated from the lowest and highest grades for which students are reported in a school. Primary schools are those with a low grade of prekindergarten through grade 3 and a high grade of up to 8. Middle schools contain a low grade of 4 to 7 and a high grade ranging from 4 to 9. High schools have a low grade of 7 to 12 and must extend through grade 12. All other grade configurations, including schools that are completely ungraded, are grouped under the heading of "other."
Free lunch eligibility is the number of students in a school who are eligible to receive free lunch under the National School Lunch Act.
The race/ethnicity categories used in the CCD are those approved by the federal Office of Management and Budget. They are mutually exclusive.
IEP counts are reported at the school district level and reflect the numbers of students with individual education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)-Part B.
School locale code is assigned on the basis of the school's mailing address. The locale code categories are:
Large city--central city of a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or consolidated MSA (CMSA); with a population of at least 250,000.
Midsize city--central city of an MSA or CMSA; with a population less than 250,000.
Urban fringe of a large city--any incorporated place, Census -designated place (CDP), or non-place territory within a CMSA or MSA of a large city and defined as urban by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Urban fringe of a midsize city--any incorporated place, CDP, or non-place within a CMSA or MSA of a midsize central city and defined as urban by the U. S. Bureau of the Census.
Large town--an incorporated place or CDP with a population of at least 25,000 and located outside a CMSA or MSA.
Small town--an incorporated place or CDP with a population between 2,500 and 24,999 and located outside a CMSA or MSA.
Rural--any incorporated place, CDP, or non-place territory designated as rural by the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Regular school districts are agencies responsible for providing free public education for school-age children residing within their jurisdiction. This category excludes local supervisory unions that provide management services for a group of associated school districts; regional education service agencies that typically provide school districts with research, testing, or data processing services; state and federally operated school districts; and other agencies that do not fall into these groupings. This report excluded 372 regular school districts that did not report any students in membership for the 1994–95 school year, a condition that can occur when a small district has no pupils or contracts with another district to educate the students under its jurisdiction.
More information
Acknowledgments
This paper was improved by the suggestions of the reviewers, Steve Broughman, Frank Morgan, and Edith MacArthur of NCES; Oona Cheung of the Council of Chief State School Officers; and Krista Schneider of the American Federation of Teachers. Marilyn McMillen and Robert Burton of NCES provided valuable technical guidance. The tables were prepared by Michael Freeman and Sheryl Jones of the U.S. Bureau of the Census.
Table 1.—Number of public elementary and secondary schools with membership and percentage of students in membership, by type of school and by state: School year 1994-95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Type of school ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- Regular Special education Vocational education Alternative education Schools ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- having Total Number of Percentage Number of Percentage Number of Percentage Number of Percentage State membership students schools of students schools of students schools of students schools of students ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States 84,705 44,108,775 79,946 98.2 1,796 0.5 359 0.4 2,604 1.0 Alabama 1,309 736,472 1,277 99.7 14 0.1 3 0.0 15 0.2 Alaska 478 127,057 445 96.3 2 0.3 3 0.4 28 3.0 Arizona 1,099 737,424 1,042 98.1 15 0.1 6 0.5 36 1.3 Arkansas 1,072 447,565 1,071 99.6 0 0.0 1 0.4 0 0.0 California 7,821 5,407,043 6,934 96.7 131 0.5 0 0.0 756 2.7 Colorado 1,407 640,521 1,347 99.0 7 0.0 3 0.0 50 0.9 Connecticut 1,039 506,824 954 96.6 16 0.5 18 1.8 51 1.0 Delaware 182 106,813 147 92.4 28 2.7 5 4.8 2 0.1 District of Columbia 174 80,450 156 96.5 11 1.7 1 0.6 6 1.2 Florida 2,727 2,108,968 2,312 95.4 138 1.0 56 0.8 221 2.8 Georgia 1,767 1,270,948 1,742 99.6 8 0.1 1 0.1 16 0.3 Hawaii 242 183,795 237 99.9 4 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.1 Idaho 601 240,448 552 99.0 12 0.1 0 0.0 37 0.9 Illinois 4,120 1,916,172 3,824 97.5 228 1.1 27 0.7 41 0.7 Indiana 1,860 968,933 1,812 99.5 28 0.3 1 0.0 19 0.2 Iowa 1,549 499,550 1,513 99.2 15 0.3 0 0.0 21 0.5 Kansas 1,490 460,838 1,467 99.5 1 0.0 0 0.0 22 0.5 Kentucky 1,342 657,642 1,296 99.7 7 0.1 3 0.1 36 0.2 Louisiana 1,459 797,933 1,357 96.9 42 0.5 11 0.3 49 2.3 Maine 701 212,601 698 100.0 3 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Maryland 1,263 790,938 1,182 97.5 48 1.0 11 1.1 22 0.5 Massachusetts 1,800 893,727 1,732 96.2 1 0.0 43 3.4 24 0.4 Michigan 3,426 1,614,784 3,212 98.2 100 0.7 12 0.2 102 0.9 Minnesota 1,908 821,693 1,503 96.8 75 0.4 3 0.0 327 2.8 Mississippi 890 505,962 875 99.7 13 0.2 0 0.0 2 0.1 Missouri 2,098 878,541 2,023 98.8 54 0.7 5 0.3 16 0.1 Montana 899 164,341 892 99.9 2 0.1 0 0.0 5 0.1 Nebraska 1,396 287,100 1,337 99.6 59 0.4 0 0.0 0 0.0 Nevada 418 250,747 382 98.1 12 0.4 2 0.7 22 0.9 New Hampshire 458 189,319 458 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 New Jersey 2,295 1,174,206 2,170 97.7 81 0.8 44 1.5 0 0.0 New Mexico 713 327,248 675 98.6 17 0.5 0 0.0 21 0.8 New York 4,125 2,766,208 3,954 97.2 85 0.7 25 1.3 61 0.8 North Carolina 1,960 1,156,767 1,896 99.3 26 0.4 1 0.0 37 0.3 North Dakota 583 119,288 583 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Ohio 3,684 1,814,290 3,641 99.6 28 0.2 15 0.2 0 0.0 Oklahoma 1,817 609,718 1,802 99.7 15 0.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 Oregon 1,209 521,945 1,163 99.2 14 0.1 0 0.0 32 0.7 Pennsylvania 3,120 1,765,891 3,087 98.3 10 1.0 14 0.6 9 0.1 Rhode Island 305 147,487 296 98.4 2 0.4 4 0.9 3 0.3 South Carolina 1,051 648,673 1,022 99.5 11 0.1 0 0.0 18 0.3 South Dakota 823 143,482 800 99.3 14 0.4 0 0.0 9 0.3 Tennessee 1,508 881,355 1,475 99.5 15 0.1 8 0.3 10 0.0 Texas 6,465 3,677,171 5,966 98.7 208 0.5 23 0.1 268 0.7 Utah 728 474,675 664 98.1 24 0.5 2 0.1 38 1.4 Vermont 371 104,533 333 98.7 37 1.3 0 0.0 1 0.0 Virginia 1,764 1,060,809 1,702 99.5 33 0.2 0 0.0 29 0.3 Washington 1,907 938,314 1,728 98.0 68 0.4 1 0.0 110 1.6 West Virginia 848 310,511 825 99.7 9 0.1 5 0.0 9 0.1 Wisconsin 2,030 860,686 1,990 98.8 23 0.4 1 0.2 16 0.6 Wyoming 404 100,369 395 99.2 2 0.1 1 0.3 6 0.4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outlying areas Defense Department 190 85,143 190 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 American Samoa 31 14,445 29 97.6 1 0.4 1 1.9 0 0.0 Guam 35 32,185 34 97.7 1 2.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 Northern Marianas 23 8,429 23 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Puerto Rico 1,554 621,121 1,520 98.5 17 0.2 14 1.2 3 0.1 Virgin Islands 32 23,126 32 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Table excludes 1,516 schools for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Amounts less than 0.05 are rounded to 0. Number of students in membership reported on State Nonfiscal Survey. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe and State Nonfiscal Survey, 1994-95.
Table 2.—Number and percentage of schools with membership and percentage of students in membership, by community type: School year 1994-95 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Percentage Percentage Community type schools of schools of students ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States 84,705 100.0 100.0 Large city 10,743 12.7 17.3 Midsize city 12,659 14.9 17.1 Urban fringe large city 18,591 21.9 26.8 Urban fringe midsize city 6,607 7.8 8.8 Large town 1,558 1.8 1.9 Small town 11,990 14.2 12.5 Rural 22,557 26.6 15.6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Community types classify the location of a school relative to populous areas. See technical notes for definitions of locale codes. Table includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe, 1994-95.
Table 3.—Percentage of public elementary and secondary schools providing instruction and percentage of students in membership, by specified level of instruction and by state: School year 1994-95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Percentage by Instructional Level Number of --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- schools Primary Middle High Other having ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ ------------------ State membership Schools Students Schools Students Schools Students Schools Students ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States 84,705 59.5 50.7 17.0 19.5 18.7 26.6 4.9 3.1 Alabama 1,309 51.0 43.3 16.7 16.9 18.9 24.4 13.4 15.4 Alaska 478 35.8 48.5 6.1 13.3 15.1 23.7 43.1 14.5 Arizona 1,099 64.8 56.5 16.5 17.5 15.4 25.0 3.4 1.0 Arkansas 1,072 52.6 48.4 15.3 19.5 29.9 28.1 2.2 4.0 California 7,821 63.9 54.2 14.5 18.0 17.5 25.6 4.1 2.2 Colorado 1,407 59.1 51.1 18.2 21.7 20.0 26.1 2.7 1.1 Connecticut 1,039 61.6 52.9 17.1 20.1 16.3 25.0 5.0 2.0 Delaware 182 48.4 40.8 23.6 29.1 17.0 28.0 11.0 2.1 District of Columbia 174 63.8 60.8 14.9 16.0 12.1 18.4 9.2 4.7 Florida 2,727 56.4 50.0 15.3 19.9 14.3 22.0 14.0 8.1 Georgia 1,767 61.8 50.2 17.9 20.6 16.4 25.4 3.9 3.8 Hawaii 242 69.4 55.2 11.2 13.2 13.2 27.2 6.2 4.5 Idaho 601 54.6 48.1 16.5 22.5 25.0 27.1 4.0 2.3 Illinois 4,120 62.4 55.4 17.1 15.1 15.7 27.0 4.8 2.5 Indiana 1,860 63.0 49.2 16.1 18.5 18.9 30.7 2.0 1.6 Iowa 1,549 55.4 47.0 18.9 20.3 24.0 31.3 1.7 1.4 Kansas 1,490 58.7 51.5 16.3 19.6 23.8 28.1 1.2 0.8 Kentucky 1,342 60.1 48.6 17.1 20.5 19.9 30.7 2.9 0.2 Louisiana 1,459 54.1 48.1 18.9 20.1 16.8 25.0 10.1 6.9 Maine 701 64.2 50.6 17.5 20.9 15.4 26.4 2.9 2.2 Maryland 1,263 66.4 52.6 17.3 20.6 14.3 25.5 2.0 1.3 Massachusetts 1,800 66.3 53.0 16.1 18.6 16.0 25.9 1.6 2.5 Michigan 3,426 59.7 50.3 16.6 19.7 18.6 27.8 5.1 2.3 Minnesota 1,908 53.2 49.8 12.9 18.0 28.0 30.5 5.9 1.8 Mississippi 890 50.6 44.0 18.8 18.9 19.4 23.7 11.2 13.4 Missouri 2,098 55.9 49.1 15.6 19.2 23.4 29.4 5.1 2.3 Montana 899 53.6 50.1 26.6 20.7 19.6 28.7 0.2 0.6 Nebraska 1,396 68.3 52.6 7.4 14.7 22.8 32.2 1.6 0.5 Nevada 418 64.1 52.6 14.6 20.7 17.2 24.8 4.1 1.9 New Hampshire 458 62.9 51.5 20.3 22.4 16.2 24.4 0.7 1.7 New Jersey 2,295 63.6 53.3 17.3 17.8 13.5 26.0 5.6 2.8 New Mexico 713 59.3 49.7 20.3 22.5 17.8 26.2 2.5 1.6 New York 4,125 58.9 50.1 16.6 18.7 17.5 27.0 7.1 4.2 North Carolina 1,960 59.7 50.9 21.1 21.9 16.5 25.7 2.7 1.6 North Dakota 583 57.6 52.1 6.5 12.9 34.0 32.2 1.9 2.8 Ohio 3,684 59.9 49.0 18.5 19.5 18.5 28.0 3.2 3.5 Oklahoma 1,817 54.7 52.4 18.8 21.5 25.2 23.8 1.3 2.4 Oregon 1,209 62.4 49.5 16.7 20.6 16.8 27.9 4.1 1.9 Pennsylvania 3,120 63.0 48.7 16.6 19.4 18.9 29.5 1.5 2.4 Rhode Island 305 68.2 51.5 16.7 21.1 13.4 27.0 1.6 0.3 South Carolina 1,051 55.9 46.6 23.0 24.9 18.6 27.7 2.5 0.8 South Dakota 823 52.0 48.9 23.5 22.1 22.5 28.6 2.1 0.4 Tennessee 1,508 62.7 52.0 15.7 16.9 16.8 27.5 4.8 3.6 Texas 6,465 52.7 49.4 20.8 22.9 18.8 24.8 7.7 3.0 Utah 728 59.9 50.5 16.2 22.9 18.5 24.9 5.4 1.7 Vermont 371 74.1 54.3 7.5 10.2 13.2 29.5 5.1 6.1 Virginia 1,764 62.3 49.2 17.8 21.3 16.6 28.2 3.3 1.3 Washington 1,907 58.3 51.2 16.2 19.9 19.7 25.6 5.8 3.3 West Virginia 848 64.5 47.6 16.2 21.0 14.7 28.3 4.6 3.1 Wisconsin 2,030 60.3 49.7 17.2 19.4 20.9 29.5 1.5 1.4 Wyoming 404 58.7 49.2 22.0 24.0 18.6 26.2 0.7 0.6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outlying areas Defense Department 190 61.1 61.9 9.5 10.7 21.1 20.4 8.4 6.9 American Samoa 31 74.2 73.7 3.2 2.9 19.4 23.0 3.2 0.4 Guam 35 68.6 53.1 17.1 22.1 14.3 24.8 0.0 0.0 Northern Marianas 23 87.0 64.8 4.3 12.7 8.7 22.5 0.0 0.0 Puerto Rico 1,554 61.3 45.4 14.2 17.6 10.7 20.1 13.8 17.0 Virgin Islands 32 71.9 54.7 15.6 20.4 9.4 23.2 3.1 1.6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Instructional levels are Primary (low grade Prekindergarten to 3, high grade up to 8); Middle (low grade 4 to 7, high grade 4 to 9); High (low grade 7 to 12, high grade 12 only); Other (any configuration not falling within the previous three, including ungraded schools). Table exludes 1,516 schools for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Amounts less than 0.05 are rounded to 0. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School Universe, 1994-95.
Table 4.—Number of regular public elementary and secondary school districts providing instruction and percentage of students in membership, by grade span and by state: School year 1994-95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade span --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PK, K, 1 to 8 or below PK, K, 1 to 9 - 12 7, 8, 9 to 7 - 12 Other ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- Total Number of Percentage Number of Percentage Number of Percentage Number of Percentage State districts districts of students districts of students districts of students districts of students ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States 14,400 3,212 5.8 10,536 91.8 538 2.2 114 0.1 Alabama 127 0 0.0 127 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Alaska 55 0 0.0 54 99.8 1 0.2 0 0.0 Arizona 215 108 28.7 85 62.3 16 9.0 6 0.0 Arkansas 312 0 0.0 312 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 California 1,001 596 21.9 300 68.9 104 9.0 1 0.2 Colorado 176 1 0.0 175 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Connecticut 166 46 4.9 112 93.6 8 1.4 0 0.0 Delaware 19 0 0.0 15 94.5 4 5.5 0 0.0 District of Columbia 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Florida 67 0 0.0 67 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Georgia 181 7 0.2 174 99.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 Hawaii 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Idaho 112 7 0.2 105 99.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 Illinois 914 399 25.8 406 63.2 108 11.0 1 0.0 Indiana 292 1 0.0 291 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Iowa 389 34 1.5 354 98.5 0 0.0 1 0.1 Kansas 304 2 0.0 302 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Kentucky 176 4 0.2 172 99.8 0 0.0 0 0.0 Louisiana 66 0 0.0 66 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Maine 228 110 12.3 113 86.7 5 1.0 0 0.0 Maryland 24 0 0.0 24 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Massachusetts 244 68 5.2 174 94.6 2 0.2 0 0.0 Michigan 555 29 0.1 525 99.9 0 0.0 1 0.0 Minnesota 394 49 1.2 327 98.3 16 0.5 2 0.1 Mississippi 153 0 0.0 149 99.7 3 0.2 1 0.1 Missouri 530 79 1.4 449 97.9 0 0.0 2 0.7 Montana 471 294 64.0 43 10.0 122 25.9 12 0.1 Nebraska 662 340 4.2 268 94.1 22 1.7 32 0.1 Nevada 17 1 0.0 16 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 New Hampshire 164 88 18.6 66 77.1 9 3.8 1 0.5 New Jersey 582 294 18.7 210 73.1 50 6.6 28 1.7 New Mexico 89 1 1.8 88 98.2 0 0.0 0 0.0 New York 711 43 1.0 649 98.4 9 0.6 10 0.1 North Carolina 119 0 0.0 119 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 North Dakota 238 43 2.5 181 96.9 5 0.4 9 0.1 Ohio 611 1 0.0 610 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Oklahoma 551 117 3.3 433 96.5 0 0.0 1 0.2 Oregon 246 68 4.3 166 93.1 12 2.6 0 0.0 Pennsylvania 500 2 0.0 498 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Rhode Island 36 4 1.6 31 97.5 0 0.0 1 0.9 South Carolina 95 2 0.1 91 99.7 1 0.1 1 0.2 South Dakota 173 7 0.9 166 99.1 0 0.0 0 0.0 Tennessee 138 13 2.1 125 97.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 Texas 1,044 71 0.3 971 99.6 0 0.0 2 0.1 Utah 40 0 0.0 40 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Vermont 251 185 43.9 35 33.4 30 21.0 1 1.6 Virginia 133 2 0.1 131 99.9 0 0.0 0 0.0 Washington 296 47 1.0 248 99.0 0 0.0 1 0.0 West Virginia 55 0 0.0 55 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Wisconsin 427 47 2.6 369 96.3 11 1.1 0 0.0 Wyoming 49 2 0.7 47 99.3 0 0.0 0 0.0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outlying areas Defense Department 11 0 0.0 11 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 American Samoa 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Guam 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Northern Marianas 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Puerto Rico 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Virgin Islands 1 0 0.0 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Grade span is determined by the highest and lowest grades for which student membership is reported among all schools associated with the district. "Other" includes all grade configurations not represented in the other categories and includes ungraded districts. For example, the first category of districts includes all those with a low grade of PK, K, or 1 and a high grade no greater than 8. Table excludes 372 regular school districts for which no students were reported in membership. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Amounts less than 0.05 are rounded to 0. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Agency and School Universes 1994-95.
Table 5.—Distribution of regular public elementary and secondary school districts and students, by district membership size: School year 1994-95 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of Percentage Percentage District membership size districts of districts of students ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States 14,400 100.0 100.0 100,000 or more 22 0.2 11.4 25,000 to 99,999 185 1.3 18.5 10,000 to 24,999 542 3.8 18.6 7,500 to 9,999 326 2.3 6.4 5,000 to 7,499 670 4.7 9.3 2,500 to 4,999 2,013 14.0 16.1 2,000 to 2,499 846 5.9 4.3 1,500 to 1,999 1,103 7.7 4.4 1,000 to 1,499 1,630 11.3 4.6 800 to 999 804 5.6 1.6 600 to 799 973 6.8 1.5 450 to 599 942 6.5 1.1 300 to 449 1,171 8.1 1.0 150 to 299 1,431 9.9 0.7 1 to 149 1,742 12.1 0.3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ NOTE: Table includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia, and excludes 372 regular school districts for which no students were reported in membership. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Amounts less than 0.05 are rounded to 0. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, Agency Universe, 1994-95.
Table 6.—Selected characteristics of public elementary and secondary school membership as percentage of school membership by state: School year 1994-95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Percentage Percentage American of membership of membership Indian / Asian / Black White Free lunch Individual Alaskan Pacific Non Non State eligible Education Program Native Islander Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- United States --- --- 1.1 3.6 13.1 16.8 65.4 Alabama --- 11.4 0.8 0.6 0.4 35.8 62.3 Alaska 23.1 13.9 23.8 4.1 2.6 4.8 64.7 Arizona --- 9.6 7.0 1.7 28.7 4.3 58.4 Arkansas 35.4 10.5 0.3 0.7 1.1 23.9 73.9 California 45.4 9.9 0.9 11.2 37.9 8.7 41.4 Colorado 22.6 9.8 1.0 2.5 17.6 5.4 73.5 Connecticut 24.1 13.3 0.2 2.4 11.4 13.3 72.7 Delaware 29.4 11.9 0.2 1.7 3.6 29.1 65.4 District of Columbia 64.1 8.4 0.0 1.3 6.6 88.0 4.0 Florida 35.8 12.9 0.2 1.7 14.4 25.0 58.7 Georgia 36.6 9.6 0.1 1.5 1.8 37.5 59.1 Hawaii 13.2 6.8 0.4 68.8 4.9 2.7 23.2 Idaho 23.2 9.3 1.3 1.2 7.8 0.6 89.1 Illinois --- 4.3 0.1 3.0 11.6 21.0 64.4 Indiana 22.5 15.8 0.2 0.8 2.2 11.2 85.7 Iowa 19.8 13.1 0.4 1.5 1.8 3.2 93.1 Kansas 24.4 11.0 1.0 1.9 5.7 8.4 83.0 Kentucky --- --- 0.1 0.6 0.3 9.7 89.3 Louisiana 53.7 10.8 0.5 1.3 1.1 45.7 51.5 Maine 24.3 12.8 0.5 0.8 0.4 0.7 97.5 Maryland 25.3 12.1 0.3 3.8 3.1 34.7 58.1 Massachusetts --- 17.5 0.2 3.7 9.0 8.0 79.1 Michigan 25.6 10.9 1.1 1.5 2.6 17.5 77.4 Minnesota 18.5 11.8 1.9 3.7 1.8 4.5 88.1 Mississippi 54.9 13.0 0.4 0.5 0.3 50.9 47.8 Missouri 28.7 15.2 0.2 1.0 0.9 15.8 82.2 Montana 23.5 11.1 9.6 0.8 1.4 0.5 87.7 Nebraska 20.7 13.6 1.3 1.2 3.8 5.8 87.8 Nevada 25.8 10.5 2.0 4.2 15.5 9.3 69.0 New Hampshire 13.3 11.7 0.2 1.0 1.1 0.8 96.8 New Jersey 24.6 5.6 0.2 5.2 13.1 18.6 63.0 New Mexico --- 13.7 10.4 1.0 46.4 2.4 39.9 New York --- 11.3 0.4 4.8 16.9 20.2 57.7 North Carolina 29.3 19.6 1.5 1.2 1.5 30.5 65.2 North Dakota 20.8 10.1 7.6 0.7 0.8 0.8 90.1 Ohio 25.6 --- 0.1 1.0 1.4 15.1 82.5 Oklahoma 34.9 11.7 14.3 1.2 3.7 10.4 70.4 Oregon 24.6 10.6 1.9 3.2 6.3 2.5 86.0 Pennsylvania --- 11.3 0.1 1.7 3.4 13.9 80.9 Rhode Island 26.7 15.6 0.5 3.2 9.5 7.0 79.9 South Carolina 39.7 11.1 0.2 0.7 0.6 41.7 56.8 South Dakota 24.5 11.4 13.6 0.8 0.7 0.8 84.2 Tennessee --- 14.0 0.1 0.9 0.6 23.0 75.4 Texas 39.6 11.2 0.2 2.3 36.1 14.3 47.1 Utah 19.2 10.8 1.4 2.1 4.8 0.7 91.0 Vermont 20.6 9.3 0.5 0.9 0.3 0.7 97.5 Virginia 25.1 12.7 0.2 3.4 3.0 26.2 67.2 Washington --- 9.6 2.6 6.3 7.4 4.6 79.1 West Virginia 39.8 14.6 0.1 0.4 0.2 3.9 95.3 Wisconsin 15.1 11.8 1.3 2.6 3.1 9.3 83.7 Wyoming 19.3 10.9 2.8 0.8 6.1 1.0 89.4 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Outlying areas Defense Department --- 9.1 1.0 9.0 8.6 22.4 58.9 American Samoa 95.0 3.1 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Guam 22.5 5.9 0.1 89.3 0.5 1.8 8.3 Northern Marianas 21.5 3.1 0.8 98.2 0.0 0.0 1.0 Puerto Rico 81.4 6.6 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 Virgin Islands 63.4 2.6 0.0 0.5 13.1 85.4 1.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: Data are shown as "---" if reported for less than 70 percent of schools or agencies. Percentages are based on schools and agencies reporting. National percentages were not imputed if data were missing for one or more states. U.S. totals exclude outlying areas. Percentages are rounded to the nearest tenth and may not add to 100. Amounts less than 0.05 are rounded to 0. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, School and Agency Universes, 1994-95.
For questions about the content of this report, please contact Lee Hoffman.
