According to Maya Riser-Kositsky’s January 16, 2019 Education Week piece, in 2015-16, our 133,853 public schools were made up of:
- 88,665 Elementary schools
- 26,986 Secondary schools
- 16,511 Combined
- 691: Other, including special education and alternative schools.
At the same time, our 50.7 million students were:
- 9%: white—no longer a majority since 2015-16
- 9%: Hispanic
- 5%: Black
- 0%: Asian
- 4%: Two or more races
- 0%: American Indian/Alaska Native
- 3%: Pacific Islander
And, our 3.2 million full-time-equivalent teachers were:
- 80%: White
- 8%: Hispanic
- 7%: Black
- 3%: Asian
- 4%: American Indian/Alaska Native
- 2%: Pacific Islander
Meanwhile, on average, our teachers made just $55,100 that same school year vs. $95,700 for principals.
And finally, we spent $625 billion funding our public elementary and secondary schools with the federal government picking up just 8% of the tab; states and local communities footing the rest. Meanwhile, we spend, on average, $12,536 per student, a number, however, that varies from state to state.
(Source: National Center for Education Statistics & Education Week)