A Bref Profi le of Amerca’s Publc Schools a

U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2007-379

A Brief Profi le of America’s 

Public Schools
U.S. Department of Education

Margaret Spellings

Secretary

Institute of Education Sciences

Grover J. Whitehurst

Director

National Center for Education Statistics

Mark Schneider

Commissioner

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal 

entity for collecting, analyzing, and reporting data related to education in the 

United States and other nations. It fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, 

collate, analyze, and report full and complete statistics on the condition of 

education in the United States; conduct and publish reports and specialized 

analyses of the meaning and significance of such statistics; assist state and 

local education agencies in improving their statistical systems; and review 

and report on education activities in foreign countries.

NCES activities are designed to address high-priority education data needs; 

provide consistent, reliable, complete, and accurate indicators of education 

status and trends; and report timely, useful, and high-quality data to the 

U.S. Department of Education, the Congress, the states, other education 

policymakers, practitioners, data users, and the general public. Unless 

specifically noted, all information contained herein is in the public domain.

We strive to make our products available in a variety of formats and in 

language that is appropriate to a variety of audiences. You, as our customer, 

are the best judge of our success in communicating information effectively. 

If you have any comments or suggestions about this or any other NCES 

product or report, we would like to hear from you. 

Please direct your comments to

National Center for Education Statistics

Institute of Education Sciences

U.S. Department of Education

1990 K Street NW

Washington, DC 20006–5651

July 2007

The NCES World Wide Web Home Page address is 

http://nces.ed.gov.

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http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch.

The Schools and Staffing Survey World Wide Web Page is 

http://www.nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/.

Suggested Citation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. 

A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools. NCES 2007-379 Project 

Officer: Barbara Holton. Washington, DC: 2007.

Content Contact

Kerry Gruber

(202) 502-7349

Kerry.Gruber@ed.gov
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

Contents

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Teachers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Principals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Districts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Library Media Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

Introduction

The public school sample is large enough to provide good data each 

state, as well as the nation as a whole. 

The SASS survey design for public schools starts with a sample of 

schools. Then, the district for each school is included in the study, 

along with the principal, about 5 – 8 teachers, and a person responsible 

for the library media center. This design provides policymakers, 

researchers, educators, and the general public with a broad range of 

information on the conditions of schools and staffing in the United 

States. 

Some illustrative findings concerning public schools, taken from the 

2003-04 SASS report, Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, 

Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools 

and Staffing Survey, are provided in this brochure. The findings are 

presented by: Schools, Teachers, Principals, Districts, and Library 

Media Centers. The full report is available at http://nces.ed.gov/

pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006313.

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is the nation’s most extensive 

sample survey of elementary and secondary schools and the teachers 

and administrators who staff them. SASS is sponsored by the National 

Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and conducted by the Census 

Bureau. The 2007-08 SASS marks SASS’s 20-year anniversary! It is 

the sixth time SASS has been conducted since it was inaugurated in 

1987-88. 

SASS covers both public and private schools. On the public side, 

SASS provides data about schools, districts, principals, teachers, 

and library media centers. In 2003-04, SASS questionnaires were 

sent to about 10,200 public schools, 5,400 public school districts, 

10,200 principals, 53,000 teachers, and10,200 school library media 

centers.
 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

The illustrative statistics presented below are taken from the 2003-

04 SASS report, Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, 

Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 

Schools and Staffing Survey, available at http://nces.ed.gov/

pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006313. 

• In the 2003-04 school year, there were 88,113 public schools 

educating 47,315,700 students in grades K-12.About 3,250,600 

full-time and part-time teachers taught in public schools. There 

were 168 BIA-funded schools serving 44,300 students in the 

2003-04 school year. About 4,000 full-time and part-time 

teachers worked in BIA-funded schools (table 1). 

Table 1. Number of public school students, teachers, schools, principals, school libraries, and districts, by school type and selected school characteristics: 

2003-04 

School type and selected school characteristic Students Teachers1 Schools Principals1 Libraries Districts

All public 47,315,700 3,250,600 88,113 87,621 78,257 15,500

School classification

Traditional public 46,689,000 3,208,500 85,934 85,451 77,319 †

Charter school 626,700 42,100 2,179 2,170 938 †

School level 

Elementary 29,953,900 2,107,900 61,572 61,477 57,404 †

Secondary 15,301,300 975,200 19,886 19,697 16,268 †

Combined 2,060,400 167,500 6,655 6,447 4,586 †

All BIA schools 44,300 4,000 168 167 154 †

† Not applicable. 1

 Includes full- and part-time head counts. 

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.T he table numbers (e.g., table 4) 

in this brochure are not always the same as those used in the full report; the original report table numbers are referenced in each table’s source citation. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 1. 

 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

Schools

• Of students enrolled in public schools, the racial and ethnic 

origin composition was 60 percent non-Hispanic White, 18 

percent Hispanic (of any race), 17 percent non-Hispanic Black, 

Table 2. Percentage distribution of public school students, by sex, race/ethnicity, percentage minority, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2003-04

Sex Race/ethnicity

School type and selected school characteristic Male Female

White, 

non-Hispanic

Black, 

non-Hispanic

Hispanic, 

regardless of race

American Indian/

Alaska Native

Asian/Pacific 

Islander Minority1

All public schools 50.1 49.9 60.3 16.8 17.7 1.3 3.9 39.7

School classification

Traditional public 50.1 49.9 60.6 16.6 17.6 1.3 3.9 39.4

Charter school 48.6 51.4 43.4 29.7 21.7 1.4 3.8 56.6

School level 

Elementary 49.9 50.1 57.8 17.7 19.6 1.2 3.8 42.2

Secondary 50.0 50.0 63.4 15.7 15.0 1.2 4.6 36.6

Combined 52.7 47.3 74.2 11.6 9.0 3.6 1.6 25.8

All BIA schools 48.0 52.02 1.4 0.6 0.8 97.1 0.1 98.6

1

 Minority includes Black, non-Hispanic; Hispanic, regardless of race; American Indian/Alaska Native; and Asian/Pacific Islander.

2

 For the item that measured male student enrollment in grades K-12 and comparable ungraded levels, the response rate was below 70 percent on the BIA School Data File. This item was also used to calculate female student enrollment. 

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 2. 

 

4 percent Asian or Pacific Islander, and 1 percent American 

Indian or Alaska Native (table 2). 
 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

• Ninety-eight percent of public schools had one or more students 

with an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Among public schools, 

about 13 percent of students, on average, had an IEP. Students 

in the smallest schools were more likely to have an IEP (24 

percent), compared to students in public schools in each of the 

other enrollment categories (table 3). 

Table 3. Number and percentage of public schools that had students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and percentage of enrolled students who had an IEP, by 

school type and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

School type and selected school characteristic Number of schools 

that had any 

students with 

an IEP

Percent of all 

schools that had 

any students with 

an IEP

Percent of enrolled 

students who had 

an IEP

All public schools 86,095 97.7 12.8

School classification

Traditional public 84,043 97.8 12.9

Charter school 2,052 94.2 10.8

Student enrollment

Less than 100 5,712 82.8 23.7

100-199 7,700 97.2 17.1

200-499 35,392 99.2 12.7

500-749 20,070 99.6 13.3

750-999 8,254 98.3 12.9

1,000 or more 8,966 99.0 11.8

All BIA schools 168 100.0 18.2

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 3. 

 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

• Sixty-three percent of public schools had students who were 

designated as limited-English-proficient (LEP), while 11 percent 

of all public school students were LEP. Public elementary 

schools were more likely to have students designated as LEP 

(68 percent) than secondary schools (57 percent) or combined 

schools (34 percent) (table 4). 

Table 4. Number and percentage of public schools that had limited-English-proficient (LEP) students and percentage of enrolled students who were LEP, by school 

type and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

School type and 

selected school 

characteristic 

Number of 

schools that had 

any LEP students

Percent of all 

schools that had 

any LEP students

Percent of 

enrolled students 

who were LEP

All public schools 55,438 62.9 10.8

School classification

Traditional public 54,495 63.4 10.8

Charter school 943 43.3 12.0

School level 

Elementary 41,780 67.9 13.3

Secondary 11,425 57.5 6.0

Combined 2,233 33.6 7.0

All BIA schools 121 72.4 52.8

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 5. 

 
 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

• Forty-seven percent of public schools reported having extendedday programs providing instruction beyond the normal school 

day for students who needed academic assistance. Public schools 

located in central-city locations were more likely to have this 

program (58 percent) than schools located elsewhere (table 5). 

Table 5. Percentage of public schools that offered particular programs or services at the school for students, regardless of funding source, by school type and 

selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

Programs or services available during the 2003-04 school year Summer school activities or academic intersessions 

available during the summer of 2003 or the previous 

school year (2002-03)

School type and selected school

characteristic 

A separate, self-contained 

program for students 

with discipline or 

adjustment problems

Medical health care 

services beyond 

those provided by 

a school nurse

Extended day program 

providing instruction 

beyond the normal school 

day for students who need 

academic assistance

Before-school or afterschool day care programs

Providing academic 

assistance for enrolled 

students

Providing academic 

advancement or 

enrichment for enrolled 

students

All public schools 31.9 12.0 46.9 33.1 76.2 34.7

School classification

Traditional public 32.3 12.1 46.8 32.9 76.7 34.6

Charter school 17.8 10.1 50.1 40.4 54.0 38.0

Community type

Central city 33.8 16.6 58.0 41.0 81.5 39.1

Urban fringe/large town 31.2 10.6 42.3 37.8 78.1 35.9

Rural/small town 31.6 10.5 44.7 17.4 67.7 28.4

All BIA schools 37.4 38.1 66.1 22.0 61.2 51.0

NOTE: BIA school refers to schoolsfunded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 11.
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

• In public schools, considering all full-time and part-time staff, 

there were about 633,700 full-time and part-time instructional 

aides and 141,611 noninstructional aides. Public elementary 

schools had more instructional aides (489,900) than public 

secondary (107,600) and public combined schools (36,100). 

Public elementary schools also had more noninstructional aides 

(103,962) than public secondary (29,585) and public combined 

schools (8,064) (table 6). 

Table 6. Number of public school instructional and noninstructional aides, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

School type and selected school characteristic Instructional aides1,2 Noninstructional aides1,3

All public schools 633,700 141,611

School classification

Traditional public 623,400 140,156

Charter school 10,300 1,455

School level 

Elementary 489,900 103,962

Secondary 107,600 29,585

Combined 36,100 8,064

All BIA schools 1,600 147

1

 Includes full- and part-time head counts. 2

 Instructional aides include regular Title I aides, ESL/Bilingual aides, special education instructional aides, library media center instructional aides, and other classroom instructional aides.

3

 Noninstructional aides include special education noninstructional aides, library media center noninstructional aides, and other noninstructional aides. 

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 13. 

 
 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

Teachers

• Among public school teachers, 83 percent were non-Hispanic 

White, 8 percent were non-Hispanic Black, 6 percent were 

Hispanic, about 1 percent were non-Hispanic American Indian 

or Alaska Native, about 1 percent were non-Hispanic Asian, 

and less than 1 percent were non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or 

Other Pacific Islander (table 7). 

Table 7. Percentage distribution of public school teachers by race/ethnicity, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

Race/ethnicity

School type and selected school characteristic 

White, nonHispanic Black, nonHispanic

American Indian/

Alaska Native, 

non-Hispanic 

Asian, nonHispanic

Native Hawaiian or 

other Pacific Islander, 

non-Hispanic

Hispanic, single or 

multiple races

Multiple races, 

non-Hispanic1

All public schools 83.1 7.9 0.5 1.3 0.2 6.2 0.7

School classification

 Traditional public 83.3 7.8 0.5 1.3 0.2 6.2 0.7

Charter school 70.2 15.2 0.9 1.9 0.4 10.1 1.4

Community type

 Central city 70.5 15.1 0.5 2.2 0.2 10.4 1.1

 Urban fringe/large town 87.4 5.1 0.4 1.1 0.2 5.2 0.6

 Rural/small town 90.2 4.9 0.9 0.5 0.1 3.0 0.4

All BIA schools 46.8 0.9 43.5 0.8 0.9 3.8 3.3

1

 Multiple races, non-Hispanic includes all non-Hispanic respondents who selected more than one race. 

NOTE: Teachers include both full-time and part-time teachers. BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. Detail may not sum to totals 

because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 18. 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 

• Eighteen percent of public school teachers had 3 or fewer years 

of full-time teaching experience, and 82 percent reported having 

4 or more years of full-time teaching experience. Among public 

schools, there was a smaller percentage of teachers with 3 or 

fewer years of full-time teaching experience in rural/small town 

communities (15 percent) than in central cities (20 percent). 

There was no measurable difference between the percentage 

of teachers with 3 or fewer years experience teaching in urban 

fringe/large towns (18 percent) compared to central city or 

rural/small town communities (table 8).

Table 8. Percentage distribution of public school teachers by total years of full-time teaching experience, years teaching at current school, school type, and selected 

school characteristics: 2003-04 

Full-time teaching experience Years teaching at current school

School type and selected school characteristic 3 or fewer years 4 or more years 3 or fewer years 4 or more years

All public schools 17.8 82.2 42.8 57.2

School classification

 Traditional public 17.5 82.5 42.4 57.6

 Charter school 43.4 56.6 75.3 24.7

Community type

 Central city 20.3 79.7 47.6 52.4

 Urban fringe/large town 17.6 82.4 42.9 57.1

 Rural/small town 14.6 85.4 35.3 64.7

All BIA schools 21.8 78.2 51.3 48.7

NOTE: Teachers include both full-time and part-time teachers. BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. Detail may not sum to totals 

because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 21. 

 
10 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

• The average academic year base teaching salary for regular 

full-time teachers in public schools was $44,400. Forty percent 

of public school regular full-time teachers reported earning 

additional compensation from the same school system for work 

involving extracurricular activities. On average, they earned 

$2,700 for this work (table 9). 

Table 9. Average base salary and earnings from salary supplements during the current school year for regular full-time public school teachers, by school type and 

selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

Salary Supplements

School type and selected school characteristic

Average academic year 

base teaching salary of 

regular full-time teachers

Extracurricular activities 

in same school system

Other school sources (merit pay 

bonus, state supplement, other) Job outside the school system

Percent

Average 

amount Percent

Average 

amount Percent

Average 

amount

All public schools $44,400 40.2 $2,700 13.6 $1,900 15.9 $5,000

School classification

 Traditional public 44,500 40.4 2,700 13.6 1,900 15.9 5,000

 Charter school 37,000 28.7 2,300 11.9 2,000 18.0 5,800

School level 

Elementary 44,300 33.6 2,200 14.2 1,900 13.6 4,700

 Secondary 45,300 53.1 3,400 13.0 2,000 20.1 5,600

Combined 38,700 44.8 2,900 10.3 2,200 18.5 5,100

All BIA schools $35,800 36.2 $2,500 6.9 $3,600 12.6 $4,500

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. A regular full-time teacher is any teacher whose primary position in a school is not 

an itinerant teacher, a long-term substitute, a short-term substitute, a student teacher, a teacher aide, an administrator, a library media specialist or librarian, another type of professional staff (e.g., counselor, curriculum coordinator, social worker) or support 

staff (e.g., secretary), or a part-time teacher.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 23. 

 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 11

• Regular full-time teachers in public schools reported that 

they were required to work an average of 38 hours to receive 

their base pay during a typical full week. On average, regular 

full-time public school teachers spent 29 hours per week on 

delivering instruction to a class of students. In addition, they 

reported spending 53 hours on all teaching and other schoolrelated activities during a typical full week (table 10).

Table 10. Average number of hours per week that regular full-time public school teachers spent on selected activities during a typical full week, by school type and 

selected school characteristics: 2003-04

Average hours per week

School type and selected school characteristic 

Total hours spent on all teaching and other school-related 

activities during a typical full week

Required to work to receive base pay 

during a typical full week 

Spent delivering instruction 

to a class of students

All public schools 52.8 37.7 28.6

School classification

 Traditional public 52.8 37.6 28.5

 Charter school 53.6 39.2 30.5

Community type

 Central city 52.4 37.2 28.6

 Urban fringe/large town 53.1 37.7 28.3

 Rural/small town 52.4 38.4 29.2

All BIA schools 52.6 39.7 30.5

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. A regular full-time teacher is any teacher whose primary position in a school is not 

an itinerant teacher, a long-term substitute, a short-term substitute, a student teacher, a teacher aide, an administrator, a library media specialist or librarian, another type of professional staff (e.g., counselor, curriculum coordinator, social worker) or support 

staff (e.g., secretary), or a part-time teacher.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 26. 

 
12 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

Principals

• Among all public school principals, 82 percent were nonHispanic White, 11 percent were non-Hispanic Black, 5 percent 

were Hispanic, about 1 percent were non-Hispanic American 

Indian or Alaska Native, about 1 percent were non-Hispanic 

Asian, and less than 1 percent were non-Hispanic Native 

Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander (table 11). 

Table 11. Percentage distribution of public school principals by race/ethnicity, school type, and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

Race/ethnicity

School type and selected 

school characteristic 

White, 

non-Hispanic 

Black,

 non-Hispanic

American Indian/Alaska 

Native, non-Hispanic 

Asian, 

non-Hispanic

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific 

Islander, non-Hispanic

Hispanic, single or 

multiple races

Multiple races, 

non-Hispanic1

All public schools 82.4 10.6 0.7 0.5 0.1 5.3 0.4

School classification

 Traditional public 82.8 10.3 0.6 0.5 0.1 5.3 0.4

 Charter school 67.6 19.7 2.7 0.8 0.4 8.0 0.8

Community type

 Central city 62.4 24.5 0.4 1.1 0.1 11.3 0.3

 Urban fringe/large town 88.0 6.7 0.4 0.5 0.1 3.8 0.5

 Rural/small town 90.9 4.5 1.5 0.1 0.1 2.6 0.4

All BIA schools 38.9 2.1 50.1 # 1.4 6.3 1.3

# Rounds to zero. 1

 Multiple races, non-Hispanic includes all non-Hispanic respondents who selected more than one race. 

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 27. 

 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 13

• The average annual salary for public school principals was 

$75,500. Public school principals in secondary schools had 

salaries ($79,400) that were higher than those in elementary 

($75,400) and combined schools ($64,700). Elementary school 

principal salaries were significantly higher than for those in 

combined schools (table 12).

Table 12. Average annual salary for public school principals and average annual salary by years of experience as a principal, by school type and selected school 

characteristics: 2003-04 

Average annual salary for principals by years of experience

School type and 

selected school characteristic Average annual salary Fewer than 3 years 3-9 years 10 years or more

All public schools $75,500 $71,100 $75,800 $78,700

School classification

 Traditional public 75,800 71,600 76,000 78,700

 Charter school 64,000 57,200 65,400 74,900

School level 

 Elementary 75,400 71,000 75,700 78,500

 Secondary 79,400 75,700 79,700 82,000

 Combined 64,700 59,500 64,700 70,000

All BIA schools $65,300 $57,700 $67,600 $68,200

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 30. 

 
14 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

• Public school principals spent an average of 59 hours per week 

on all school-related activities and an average of 23 hours per 

week interacting with students (table 13).

Table 13. Average hours per week that public school principals spent on all school-related activities and interacting with students, by school type and selected school 

characteristics: 2003-04 

Average hours per week

School type and selected school characteristic All school-related activities Interacting with students

All public schools 59.0 22.8

School classification

 Traditional public 59.0 22.8

 Charter school 59.6 23.3

Community type

 Central city 60.0 23.5

 Urban fringe/large town 59.3 21.6

 Rural/small town 57.5 24.1

All BIA schools 59.0 20.4

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 31. 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 15

Districts

teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no teaching experience 

was $29,100. The average yearly salary at the highest step on 

the salary schedule was $53,900 (table 14).

Table 14. Percentage of public school districts that had salary schedules for teachers and among those that had salary schedules, the average yearly base teacher 

salary, by various levels of degrees and experience and selected public school district characteristics: 2003-04 

Among districts that had salary schedules, average yearly base teacher salary for:

Selected public school district 

characteristic 

Percent with salary 

schedules for teachers

Bachelor’s degree and no 

teaching experience

Bachelor’s degree and 10 years 

of teaching experience

Master’s degree and no 

teaching experience1

Master’s degree and 10 years of 

teaching experience2

Highest possible step 

on the salary schedule

All public school districts 92.7 $29,100 $37,500 $31,900 $41,600 $53,900

District size

 1 school 81.6 27,100 34,300 29,900 38,000 46,900

 2-3 schools 96.1 28,300 36,300 30,900 39,900 51,600

 4-5 schools 97.5 30,100 39,600 32,900 43,900 57,700

 6-9 schools 98.6 30,800 40,400 33,800 45,200 60,100

 10-19 schools 98.6 31,500 40,600 34,600 45,900 61,300

 20 or more schools 99.7 31,700 40,300 34,500 44,900 61,200

Community type

 Central city 79.9 31,100 40,300 34,300 45,000 58,100

 Urban fringe/large town 93.9 31,100 40,700 34,000 45,200 60,300

 Rural/small town 94.1 26,800 34,000 29,500 37,500 47,100

1

 A teacher with a master’s degree or its equivalent in credit hours beyond a bachelor’s degree. 2

 A teacher with a master’s degree or its equivalent in credit hours. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 33. 

 

• Ninety-three percent of all public school districts reported 

having a salary schedule for teachers. Among districts that had 

salary schedules, the average yearly base teaching salary for 
16 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

Library Media Centers

Tables 15 and 16 present data as reported by school library media 

centers on topics pertaining to libraries. A few examples of the results 

from public school library media centers are presented below: 

• Some 82,569 public schools had library media centers. Fiftyfour percent of paid professional library media center staff in 

public schools had a master’s degree in a library-related field 

(table 15).

Table 15. Of public schools with library media centers, characteristics of library media center staff, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2003-04

School type and selected school characteristic 

Total number 

of schools1

Number of schools with 

library media centers1

Total number of full-time, paid, statecertified library media center specialistsPercent of paid professional library media center staff with a 

master’s degree in a library-related education field

All public schools 88,113 82,569 50,553 54.1

School classification

 Traditional public 85,934 81,204 50,355 54.4

 Charter school 2,179 1,364 198 19.8

School level 

 Elementary 61,572 60,172 33,053 52.4

 Secondary 19,886 17,035 14,972 62.1

 Combined 6,655 5,361 2,529 39.9

Student enrollment

 Less than 100 6,895 4,175 516 27.8

 100-199 7,922 6,953 1,487 37.7

 200-499 35,685 34,289 18,698 50.2

 500-749 20,156 19,868 13,777 55.4

 750-999 8,396 8,265 6,191 60.5

 1,000 or more 9,059 9,018 9,884 68.1

All BIA schools 168 160 88 34.3

1

The school data files were used to generate these estimates. The school library media center data files were used to generate the remaining estimates.

NOTE: The 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey did not collect School Library Media Center data from private schools. BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not 

by a regular school district. 

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,“Characteristics of Schools, Districtis, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 43. 

 
A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools 17

• During the 2002-03 school year, public school library media 

centers spent about $6,300 on books and acquired about 574 

book titles, on average. The average number of book titles 

Table 16. Of public schools with library media centers, average number of total holdings, additions, and expenditures in library media centers during 2002-03 for 

various kinds of materials, by school type and selected school characteristics: 2003-04 

Average number of holdings at the end 

of the 2002-03 school year

Average number acquired during the 

2002-03 school year

Average amount of expenditures during 

the 2002-03 school year

School type and selected 

school characteristic

Total number 

of schools1

Number of schools with 

library media centers1 Book titles

Video 

materials

CD-ROM

titles Book titles

Video 

materials

CD-ROM

titles Book titles

Video 

materials

CD-ROM

titles

All public schools 88,113 82,569 10,900 391 69 574 25 4.3 $6,300 $562 $98

School classification

 Traditional public 85,934 81,204 11,000 393 69 571 25 4.3 6,400 564 98

 Charter school 2,179 1,364 8,000 191 46 815 25 6.4 5,400 449 139

School level 

 Elementary 61,572 60,172 10,600 349 81 591 22 4.7 5,800 451 102

 Secondary 19,886 17,035 12,600 557 35 558 37 2.9 8,800 925 91

 Combined 6,655 5,361 9,100 331 38 413 22 3.7 3,900 666 75

Student enrollment

 Less than 100 6,895 4,175 5,700 191 38 260 13 3.7 2,100 157 60

 100-199 7,922 6,953 6,400 159 32 311 11 2.4 2,600 186 36

 200-499 35,685 34,289 9,800 314 57 482 19 4.1 4,900 366 104

 500-749 20,156 19,868 11,600 423 102 652 26 5.3 6,900 579 114

 750-999 8,396 8,265 13,300 469 85 727 33 3.5 7,200 681 86

 1,000 or more 9,059 9,018 16,300 753 60 882 51 4.9 13,600 1,513 108

All BIA schools 168 160 10,100 383 34 758 33 4.9 9,600 553 191

1

The school data files were used to generate these estimates. The school library media center data files were used to generate the remaining estimates.

NOTE: BIA school refers to schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that are operated by the BIA, a tribe, or a private contractor and not by a regular school district.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 Schools and Staffing Survey,” NCES 2006-313, Table 47. 

 

available at the end of the 2002-03 school year in public school 

libraries was 10,900 (table 16). 
18 A Brief Profile of America’s Public Schools

Notes

The 2003-04 SASS covered three school sectors: public, Bureau of 

Indian Affairs (BIA), and private. Public schools include traditional 

public schools and public charter schools. Traditional public schools 

are defined as institutions that provide educational services for at 

least one of grades 1-12 (or comparable ungraded levels), have one 

or more teachers to give instruction, are located in one or more 

buildings, receive public funds as primary support, and are operated 

by an education agency. They include regular, special education, 

vocational/technical, and alternative schools. They also include 

schools in juvenile detention centers, and domestic schools located 

on military bases and operated by the Department of Defense. 

Public charter schools are public schools that, in accordance with 

an enabling state statute, have been granted a charter exempting 

them from selected state or local rules and regulations. BIA-funded 

schools are schools that are funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs 

and may be operated by the BIA, a local tribe, or private contractor. 

Private schools are schools not in the public system that provide 

instruction for any of grades 1-12 (or comparable ungraded levels). 

The instruction must be given in a building that is not used primarily 

as a private home. 

If you have specific questions about SASS, e-mail sassdata@ed.gov

or call 1-800-221-1204 toll-free (Eastern time).

The SASS website (http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass) provides a complete list of publications that report findings from SASS. Reports 

can be downloaded or a paper copy can be ordered at no cost, 

while supplies last, from ED PUBS at 1-877-4ED-PUBS, or online at 

http://www.edpubs.org.

Reference

• U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education 

Statistics, Characteristics of Schools, Districts, Teachers, 

Principals, and School Libraries in the United States, 2003-04 

Schools and Staffing Survey, NCES 2006-313 REVISED.