According to current National Education Association data, the 3 highest and lowest teacher salaries:

  • New York: $87,738
  • Massachusetts: $86,315
  • California: $85,892
  • South Dakota: $49,993
  • Florida: $49,583
  • Mississippi: $47,655

According to 2017-18 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES):

*** Of the 130,930 K-12 U.S. schools:

  • Elementary account for 87,498
  • Secondary account for 26,727
  • Combined schools: 15,804
  • Other: 901

*** On average, public schools enroll 527 students

  • City: 585 students
  • Suburban: 656 students
  • Town: 443 students
  • Rural: 364 students

*** Our public schools enroll some 50.7 million students; about 3.3 million attend charter schools, and 5,719,990 attend private schools, which break down as follows:

  • 4% in Catholic schools
  • 4% in non-religious schools
  • 2% in un-affiliated religious schools

*** The breakdown of our student population:

  • White: 47.0%
  • Hispanic: 27.2%
  • Black: 15.1%
  • Asian: 5.3%
  • 2 or more race: 4.1%
  • American Indian/Alaskan Native: 1.0%
  • Pacific Islander: 0.4%

*** The racial demographics of teachers:

  • 3% White
  • 3% Hispanic
  • 7% Black
  • 1% Asian
  • 8% two or more races
  • 5% American Indian/Alaskan Native
  • 2% Native Hawaiian/
  • Pacific Islander

*** As for teachers’ unions:

  • 4% of teachers are union members
  • 29 million are National Education Association members
  • 7 million are American Federation of Teachers members

And so it goes, as yet another school year unfolds.

~ With my many thanks, Carol