National Center for Education Statistics

Table 1.—Selected statistics for public elementary and secondary schools and school districts for the United States and jurisdictions and the 100
Table 1.—largest and 500 largest school districts: School years 2008–09 and 2007–08
100 largest school districts 500 largest school districts
All school Percent of Percent of
Characteristic districts Total national total Total national total
Districts2 17,953 100 0.6 500 2.8
Schools3 100,713 16,905 16.8 32,957 32.7
Students 49,921,068 11,143,875 22.3 21,507,513 43.1
Full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching positions4 3,269,814 710,155 21.7 1,344,340 41.1
High school completers (2007–08)5 3,052,260 617,538 ###
20.2 1,226,072 40.2
Median pupil/teacher ratio6 15.0 15.3 † 15.6 †
Average school enrollment7 513.8 673.1 † 668.1 †
† Not applicable.
1
Total may differ from other published estimates due to inclusion of Puerto Rico, the outlying areas, the Bureau of Indian Education, and the
Department of Defense dependents schools.
2
Totals for number of districts may differ from published estimates since they exclude closed, inactive, and future school districts.
3
Totals for number of schools may differ from published estimates since they exclude closed, inactive, and future schools.
4
FTE is the amount of time required to perform an assignment stated as a proportion of a full-time position. It is computed by dividing the amount
of time employed by the amount of time normally required for a full-time position. FTE is not a head count; for example, two half-time employees
represent one FTE. The national total is based on state-level reports, whereas reports for the 100 and 500 largest districts are based on district-
level reports.
5
Includes high school diploma recipients as well as other high school completers (e.g., certificates of attendance), but not high school equivalencies
(e.g., General Education Development (GEDs)). Total may differ from other published estimates due to inclusion of Puerto Rico, the outlying areas,
the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Department of Defense dependents schools.
6
Includes only schools where student membership was greater than zero and for which pupil/teacher ratio data were available. The median is
given because it is unaffected by very high or very low values.
7
Includes only schools where membership was greater than zero.
NOTE: Data include all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, four outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Bureau of Indian Education, and the Department of Defense dependents schools
(overseas and domestic). The 500 largest school districts include 17 school districts that are some other configuration besides prekindergarten (PK)
or K–12, although all of the 100 largest school districts are PK or K–12.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/
Secondary School Universe Survey," 2008–09, Version 1a, "Local Education Agency Universe Survey," 2008–09, Version 1a, "State Nonfiscal
Survey of Public Elementary/Secondary Education," 2008–09, Version 1a, "Local Education Universe Survey Dropout and Completion Restricted-
Use Data File," 2008–09, Version 1a, and "State Dropout and Completion Data File," 2007–08, Version 1a.