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K-12 education in the United States - statistics and facts

Public school politics, inequalities in education, key insights.

Detailed statistics

School enrollment in public and private institutions in the U.S. 2022

Expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1970-2021

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Educational Institutions & Market

Share of Americans who are concerned about select issues in public schools U.S. 2023

Top three reasons K-12 public school teachers fear for their safety U.S. 2023

U.S. states restricting schools from teaching race, sex, or inequality 2021-2023

Further recommended statistics

• Basic Statistic Number of elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. 2020/21, by type
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. public schools 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type
• Basic Statistic School enrollment in public and private institutions in the U.S. 2022
• Basic Statistic Enrollment in public and private elementary schools 1960-2022
• Basic Statistic High school enrollment in public and private institutions U.S. 1965-2031
• Premium Statistic Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 2022, by state
• Basic Statistic Primary and secondary school enrollment rates in the U.S. in 2022, by age group
• Basic Statistic Share of students enrolled in U.S. public K-12 schools 2021, by ethnicity and state
• Basic Statistic U.S. public school enrollment numbers 2000-2021, by ethnicity

Number of elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. 2020/21, by type

Number of elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2020/21, by school type*

Share of U.S. public schools 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type

Share of public schools in the United States in 2021/22, by enrollment size and school type

Enrollment in public and private schools in the United States in 2022 (in millions)

Enrollment in public and private elementary schools 1960-2022

Enrollment in public and private elementary schools in the United States from 1960 to 2022 (in millions)

High school enrollment in public and private institutions U.S. 1965-2031

High school enrollment for public and private schools in the U.S. from 1965 to 2020, with projections up to 2031 (in 1,000s)

Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 2022, by state

Enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States in 2022, by state (in 1,000s)

Primary and secondary school enrollment rates in the U.S. in 2022, by age group

Share of population enrolled in primary and secondary education in the United States in 2022, by age group

Share of students enrolled in U.S. public K-12 schools 2021, by ethnicity and state

Share of students enrolled in K-12 public schools in the United States in 2021, by ethnicity and state

U.S. public school enrollment numbers 2000-2021, by ethnicity

K-12 public school enrollment numbers in the United States from 2000 to 2021 by ethnicity (in 1,000s)

Revenue and expenditure

• Basic Statistic School expenditure on public and private institutions 1970-2020
• Basic Statistic Expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1970-2021
• Premium Statistic U.S. per pupil public school expenditure FY 2023, by state
• Basic Statistic U.S. public schools - average expenditure per pupil 1980-2020
• Basic Statistic U.S. education - total expenditure per pupil in public schools 1990-2021
• Basic Statistic Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1980-2020
• Premium Statistic Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools U.S. 2024, by state
• Premium Statistic Estimated average salary of public school teachers U.S. 2021/22, by state

School expenditure on public and private institutions 1970-2020

School expenditure in public and private institutions in the United States from 1970 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)

School expenditure on public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1970 to 2021 (in billion U.S. dollars)

U.S. per pupil public school expenditure FY 2023, by state

Per pupil public elementary and secondary school expenditure in the United States in the fiscal year of 2023, by state (in U.S. dollars)

U.S. public schools - average expenditure per pupil 1980-2020

Average expenditure per pupil in average daily attendance in public elementary and secondary schools from academic years 1980 to 2020 (in U.S. dollars)

U.S. education - total expenditure per pupil in public schools 1990-2021

Total expenditure per pupil in public elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1990 to 2021 (in constant 2022-23 U.S. dollars)

Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1980-2020

Revenue of public elementary and secondary schools in the United States from the academic years 1980 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools U.S. 2024, by state

Average annual tuition for private K-12 schools in the United States in 2024, by state (in U.S. dollars)

Estimated average salary of public school teachers U.S. 2021/22, by state

Estimated average salary of public school teachers in the United States in 2021-2022, by state (in constant 2020-21 U.S. dollars)

State laws and book bans

• Premium Statistic U.S. states restricting schools from teaching race, sex, or inequality 2021-2023
• Premium Statistic Proposed bans on sex or gender identity in K-12 schools U.S. 2023, by grade level
• Premium Statistic Share of transgender youth subject to bans on school sport participation U.S 2024
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. transgender population subject to bathroom bills 2024
• Premium Statistic Instances of book bans in U.S. public schools 2022/23, by ban status
• Basic Statistic Books banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by state
• Premium Statistic Book titles banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by subject matter
• Premium Statistic Topics that K-12 librarians would ban from their school libraries U.S. 2023

Legal action taken to restrict teaching critical race theory or limit how teachers can discuss racism, sexism, and systemic inequality in the United States from 2021 to 2023, by state

Proposed bans on sex or gender identity in K-12 schools U.S. 2023, by grade level

Number of proposed bans on instruction related to sexual orientation or gender identity in K-12 schools in the United States in 2023*, by grade level of ban

Share of transgender youth subject to bans on school sport participation U.S 2024

Share of transgender youth aged 13 to 17 living in states that restrict transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity in the United States as of March 14, 2024

Share of U.S. transgender population subject to bathroom bills 2024

Share of transgender population aged 13 and over living in states that ban transgender people from using bathrooms and facilities consistent with their gender identity in the United States as of March 14, 2024

Instances of book bans in U.S. public schools 2022/23, by ban status

Total number of instances of books banned from K-12 public libraries and classrooms in the United States in the 2022/23 school year, by ban status

Books banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by state

Number of books banned in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, by state

Book titles banned in schools in the U.S. H2 2022, by subject matter

Share of book titles banned in school classrooms and libraries in the United States from July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, by subject matter

Topics that K-12 librarians would ban from their school libraries U.S. 2023

Share of library staff working in K-12 schools and districts who believe that libraries in their district or school should not include any books that depict certain topics in the United States in 2023

• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 public students attending predominately same-race schools U.S 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of public schools who feel understaffed U.S. 2024, by students of color
• Premium Statistic Estimated average months of learning lost due to COVID-19 by ethnicity U.S. 2020
• Premium Statistic NAEP reading scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race
• Premium Statistic NAEP math scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race
• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 students who feel their school respects who they are U.S. 2023, by race
• Premium Statistic Schools in the U.S.: victims of threats/injuries by weapons, by ethnicity 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of students who have experienced school shootings U.S. 1999-2024, by race
• Basic Statistic Share of teachers afraid of school shootings U.S. 2022, by location and student race

Share of K-12 public students attending predominately same-race schools U.S 2021

Share of students attending K-12 public schools in which 75 percent or more of the students are of their own race or ethnicity in the United States in the 2020-21 school year

Share of public schools who feel understaffed U.S. 2024, by students of color

Share of public schools who feel that their school is understaffed in the United States entering the 2023-24 school year, by students of color

Estimated average months of learning lost due to COVID-19 by ethnicity U.S. 2020

Estimated average months of learning lost compared with in-classroom learning due to COVID-19 in the United States in 2020, by ethnicity

NAEP reading scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race

Reading scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for nine year old students in the United States from 2020 to 2022, by race

NAEP math scores for nine year olds U.S. 2022, by race

Mathematics scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for nine year old students in the United States from 2020 to 2022, by race

Share of K-12 students who feel their school respects who they are U.S. 2023, by race

Share of K-12 students who feel that their school respects who they are, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, or identity in the United States in 2023, by race

Schools in the U.S.: victims of threats/injuries by weapons, by ethnicity 2021

Percentage of U.S. students in grades 9–12 who reported being threatened or injured with a weapon at school in 2021, by ethnicity

Share of students who have experienced school shootings U.S. 1999-2024, by race

Share of students who have experienced school shootings in the United States from 1999 to 2024*, by race

Share of teachers afraid of school shootings U.S. 2022, by location and student race

Share of K-12 teachers who reported feeling afraid that they or their students would be a victim of attack or harm at school in the United States in 2022, by school locale and student racial composition

K-12 teachers

• Basic Statistic Teachers in elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1955-2031
• Basic Statistic U.S. elementary and secondary schools: pupil-teacher ratio 1955-2031
• Premium Statistic Impacts of restricting race, sex, and identity topics for K-12 teachers U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of public K-12 teachers who limit political or social topics in class U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Top reasons K-12 public school teachers limit political or social topics U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 teachers' views on how gender identity should be taught at school U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 teachers' support for parents to opt children out of race/gender topics U.S 2023
• Premium Statistic Top three reasons K-12 public school teachers fear for their safety U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of school staff who received concerns from parents on K-12 curriculum 2023

Teachers in elementary and secondary schools U.S. 1955-2031

Number of teachers in public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1955 to 2031 (in 1,000s)

U.S. elementary and secondary schools: pupil-teacher ratio 1955-2031

Pupil-teacher ratio in public and private elementary and secondary schools in the United States from 1955 to 2031

Impacts of restricting race, sex, and identity topics for K-12 teachers U.S. 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who say that current debates on how public K-12 schools should be teaching certain topics like race and gender identity has impacted their ability to do their job in the United States in 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who limit political or social topics in class U.S. 2023

Have you ever decided on your own, without being directed by school or district leaders, to limit discussion of political and social issues in class?

Top reasons K-12 public school teachers limit political or social topics U.S. 2023

What are the top three reasons you decided, on your own, to limit discussion of political and social topics in your classroom?

K-12 teachers' views on how gender identity should be taught at school U.S. 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers with various beliefs on what students should learn about gender identity at school in the United States in 2023, by grade level

K-12 teachers' support for parents to opt children out of race/gender topics U.S 2023

Share of public K-12 teachers who believe parents should be able to opt their children out of learning about racism and racial inequality or sexual orientation and gender identity if the way they are taught conflicts with the parents' personal beliefs in the United States in 2023, by party

What are the top three reasons you fear for your physical safety when you are at school?

Share of school staff who received concerns from parents on K-12 curriculum 2023

About which topics have parents expressed concerns to you?

Parent perceptions

• Premium Statistic Main reasons why parents enroll their children in private or public schools U.S. 2024
• Premium Statistic Share of Americans with various views on what school type has the best education 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of parents with select views on what school type is best U.S 2024, by gender
• Premium Statistic Parents' beliefs on how gender identity is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Parents with select beliefs on how slavery is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Perceptions on the influence of K-12 parents or school boards U.S 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Parents who believe teachers should lead students in prayers U.S. 2022, by party
• Premium Statistic Share of K-12 parents concerned about a violent intruder at school U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic K-12 parents' concerns on the effects of AI on their child's learning U.S. 2023

Main reasons why parents enroll their children in private or public schools U.S. 2024

Share of parents with various reasons why they chose to enroll their youngest child in a private or public school in the United States in 2024

Share of Americans with various views on what school type has the best education 2023

If it were your decision and you could select any type of school, and financial costs and transportation were of no concern, what type of school would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child?

Share of parents with select views on what school type is best U.S 2024, by gender

If given the option, what type of school would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child?

Parents' beliefs on how gender identity is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents of K-12 students with select beliefs on what children should learn about gender identity in school in the United States in 2022, by party

Parents with select beliefs on how slavery is taught in school U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents of K-12 students with select beliefs on what children should learn about slavery in school in the United States in 2022, by party

Perceptions on the influence of K-12 parents or school boards U.S 2022, by party

Share of parents who believe that parents or the local school board have too much influence on what public K-12 schools are teaching in the United States in 2022, by political party

Parents who believe teachers should lead students in prayers U.S. 2022, by party

Share of parents who believe that public school teachers should be allowed to lead students in Christian prayers in the United States in 2022, by party

Share of K-12 parents concerned about a violent intruder at school U.S. 2023

Share of K-12 parents who were extremely concerned or very concerned about a violent intruder, such as a mass shooter, entering their child's/children's school in the United States in 2023, by grade of child

K-12 parents' concerns on the effects of AI on their child's learning U.S. 2023

How concerned are you about the effects of artificial intelligence, or AI, on your youngest/oldest child's learning this school year?

U.S. opinion

• Premium Statistic Share of Americans who are concerned about select issues in public schools U.S. 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on who should influence LGBTQ-related school policies 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on how slavery and racism should be taught in schools 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. preferences for race-related curricula in K-12 schools 2023, by race
• Premium Statistic U.S. views on whether teachers should use students' preferred pronouns 2023
• Premium Statistic U.S. teens' comfortability with race and LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom 2023
• Premium Statistic Share of LBGTQ+ students with various reasons to drop out of high school U.S. 2021-22
• Premium Statistic Adults’ opinion on how K–12 schools should handle AI advances U.S. 2023-24

How concerned are you about the following issues in public schools in your local area?

U.S. views on who should influence LGBTQ-related school policies 2023

Share of adults who believe select groups should have a great deal of influence in deciding how to set school policy concerning discussion of LGBTQ people in the United States in 2023

U.S. views on how slavery and racism should be taught in schools 2023

Which of the following statements comes closest to your views?

U.S. preferences for race-related curricula in K-12 schools 2023, by race

Share of adults who believe various race-related curricula should be taught in K-12 schools in the United States in 2023, by race and ethnicity

U.S. views on whether teachers should use students' preferred pronouns 2023

If a teenager asks a teacher to use a particular pronoun – he, she or they – which do you think is the best policy?

U.S. teens' comfortability with race and LGBTQ+ topics in the classroom 2023

Share of teenagers who say they feel comfortable or uncomfortable when topics related to racism, racial inequality, sexual orientation, or gender identity come up in class in the United States in 2023

Share of LBGTQ+ students with various reasons to drop out of high school U.S. 2021-22

Share of LGBTQ+ students with various reasons why they do not plan to graduate high school or are unsure if they will graduate in the United States during the 2021-22 academic year

Adults’ opinion on how K–12 schools should handle AI advances U.S. 2023-24

Which of the following comes closest to your view on how K-12 schools should respond to advances in artificial intelligence (AI)?

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Report card on american education: 22nd edition.

The status quo is not working. Whether by international comparisons, state and national proficiency measures, civic literacy rates, or career preparedness, American students are falling behind. The 22nd edition of the Report Card on American Education ranks states on their K-12 education and policy performance.

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What are the outcomes of the education system? How much did COVID-19 disrupt learning?​

Eighth-grade math and reading proficiency fell between 2019 and 2022 to the lowest rates in at least 15 years..

The share of eighth graders at or above a proficient reading level dropped from 34% to 31%. For math, it dropped from 34% to 26%.

The public-school student-teacher ratio dropped from 15.9 in fall 2019 to 15.4 in fall 2020 and remained unchanged in 2021.

This is partly due to declining school enrollment during the pandemic . Several factors affect the student-teacher ratio, including class sizes, the number of classes educators teach, and the number of special education teachers.

Public schools spent an average of $16,280 per student in the 2020–2021 school year, more than any previous year after adjusting for inflation.

This was up 3.5% from the previous school year, the largest single-year increase since 1988-1989. Expenditures in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 included funds allocated through pandemic relief legislation such as the CARES Act . Many factors influence per-pupil spending, including salaries, benefits, and supplies across functions such as instruction, administration, and operations and maintenance.

Of the students who started high school in 2011, 24% completed a four-year college degree by 2021. Another 13% had enrolled in a four-year college within one year of high school graduation but had not completed their degree.

Among Black and Hispanic students who entered high school in 2011, the percentage who earned a four-year degree by 2021 was lower than the overall student rate — less than 15% for either group.

The median student loan balance per household decreased between 2019 and 2022, but it dropped most for Black-led households, falling 25% to $27,070 in 2022.

However, prior to 2022, it had been increasing faster for Black-led households than households overall. Black-led household student loan balances rose 66% between 2010 and 2019, compared to 41% for all families.

Forty-eight percent of the population ages 25 and older has a college degree.

Asian Americans have the nation’s highest levels of education; as of 2022, two-thirds had at least an associate degree.

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On average, people whose highest level of education is a bachelor’s degree earned $1,493 per week in 2023, roughly 66% more than workers with a high school diploma.

Earnings for workers with some college or an associate degree have fallen since 2000, while increasing for all other educational attainment categories. Earnings for people without a high school diploma are up most, $708 per week (up 11%), but remain $462 per week (39%), lower than overall median earnings.

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K-12 Curriculum and pupil assessment

What is the K-12 system and how are pupils assessed along the way? Relocate takes a look at how the US education system differs from other countries around the world.

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U.S. Education Rankings Compared to Other Countries

Comparing Test Scores

Economic impact of education, impact on u.s. competitiveness.

David Butow / Kontributor

The United States isn't investing as much in human capital as other developed countries, and its comparative advantage is falling behind as a result—particularly with respect to education rankings.

U.S. students' math skills have remained fairly stagnant for decades, and the country is falling behind many others that have greatly improved, such as Japan, Poland, and Ireland. Additionally, U.S. test scores are below the global average. Here's how they break down.

Key Takeaways

• The U.S. placed 16th out of 81 countries in science when testing was last administered in 2022.
• The top five math-scoring countries in 2022 were all in Asia.
• U.S. students' math scores have remained steady since 2003. Their science scores have been about the same since 2006.
• The IMD World Competitiveness Center reports that the U.S. ranked 12th in its 2024 Competitiveness Report after ranking first in 2018.

The Program for International Student Assessment is administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and it tests 15-year-old students around the world. The U.S. placed 16th out of 81 countries in science when the test was last administered in 2022. It did much worse in math, ranking 34th. 

The U.S. scored 465 in math, below the OECD average of 472 and well below the scores of the top five, all of which were in Asia:

• Singapore: 575
• Chinese Taipei: 547
• Hong Kong: 540

China was not included in this ranking because only four provinces participated.

The United States scored 499 in science, above the OECD average of 485 but still well below the top five highest scorers in science, which were:

• Singapore: 561
• Chinese Taipei: 537

It's clear when analyzing the U.S. results that the scores have been stable over time. They're not declining but there aren't any signs of improvement, either. There's been no detectable change in U.S. students' math scores since 2003 or in science scores since 2006.

These relatively low scores mean that U.S. students may not be as prepared to take high-paying computer and engineering jobs, which often go to foreign workers. Silicon Valley is America's high-tech innovation center but one reason for its success is the cultural diversity of its foreign-born software engineers.

Many companies simply outsource their tech jobs overseas, but the result is the same: Fewer high-paying jobs are going to American citizens because they may not be qualified.

Eric A. Hanushek, an economist from the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, estimated that the U.S. economy would grow 4.5% in 20 years if our students’ math and science skills were as strong as those of the rest of the world. But this statement would likely come as a shock to many Americans who believe that our students' skills are already among the best in the world.

The International Institute for Management Development's World Competitiveness Center reports that the U.S. ranked 12th in its 2024 Competitiveness Report—continuing a downward trend after the U.S. fell to the third spot in 2019 despite ranking first in 2018. The tumble to 12th place represents the lowest the U.S. has ever been in the annual ranking system.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much does the u.s. spend on education.

Numbers for K-12 spending reveal that the U.S. spends $16,080 per public school student per year, which totals $794.7 billion.

Which state ranks first for education in the U.S.?

Several publications provide state rankings for K-12 education, but they use different methods to come to their conclusions. The National Center for Education Statistics doesn't rank the states, but Education Week assigns each state a grade from A to F based on several factors. No state has achieved an A, and only two states have achieved a B: Massachusetts and New Jersey.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. " 2022 PISA Results ."

Eric A. Hanushek at Stanford University. "The Economic Value of Education and Cognitive Skills."

IMD World Competitiveness Center. " IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2024 Factors Ranking ."

National Center for Education Statistics. " U.S. Public Education Spending Statistics ."

Education Week. " State Grades on K-12 Achievement: 2021 Map and Rankings ."

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A Short History of K-12 Reform

Are “education years” more like “dog years” or “people years”? Is twenty of them a long time or a short time? How much can happen in education in two decades? More, it seems, than one might suppose.

Yes, the K-12 enterprise is slow to change, full of inertia and sameness. Yes, much about today’s schools resembles the schools attended by their pupils’ parents, even grandparents. Few can rebut the familiar comment that if Rip Van Winkle awoke in America today after a snooze of twenty years or longer, the two institutions he would find most like those when he fell asleep are our churches and our schools.

At the same time, primary-secondary education is also awash in fads, nostrums, and “innovations” that sometimes make it resemble a ping-pong game or pool table on which the instructional ball bounces off one notion, then caroms to the next new thing.

Indeed, part of what keeps our education system more dysfunctional and less effective than it ought to be is its weird blend of timeless and trendy, static and fluid, rigid and random.

Despite all that, much that’s significant can change in this system over twenty years, both for better and for worse. Some developments are straightforward and predictable, like the phases of the moon. During a two-decade period, an entire generation of children matures from infancy to college. Some sixty million Americans earn high-school diplomas—and maybe 20 million more drop out. Those who entered kindergarten at the beginning of the period will possess graduate degrees at the end of it—well, some of them will. Millions of teachers and tens of thousands of principals will be replaced by people not currently employed in those positions. Urban school districts will run through a half dozen superintendents each. States will elect up to five governors.

Yet more profound changes can also occur during such a time-span, changes that alter the norms, ground-rules or operating arrangements of the system itself. They may not all be positive and they surely won’t have the same impacts everywhere at the same time. But they may still be fundamental.

The Last Two Decades of Reform

One way to gauge what could actually occur in American K-12 education between now and 2030 is to recall some of what did occur over the previous two decades, i.e. between 1990 and 2010. Here I recount ten such developments. All were in some sense “national” but only three engaged the federal government to an appreciable degree. The others seeped, slithered, morphed, and metastasized from place to place via mechanisms that have more to do with the culture of education than with its formal governance.  

First, observe the extraordinary traction that was gained by “standards-based reform” at both state and national levels. One could fairly say this began with A Nation At Risk in 1983—and I’ll note with some satisfaction that Diane Ravitch and I were embarked on such a mission via the “Educational Excellence Network” as early as 1981. (One could also argue that James Coleman sowed the seeds in 1966.)  

But the enterprise really took off after the 1989 Charlottesville education “summit” attended by President Clinton and the governors and it gained momentum when America’s first-ever “national education goals” were announced in early 1990. The development of academic goals, standards, assessments, tracking metrics, and accountability systems began to be a big deal across the land—and this shows no sign of abating. We now judge schools (and districts, states, etc.) primarily by their results, not by their inputs, services, or intentions. That simply wasn’t true two decades ago.

Second, the era of standards-based-reform has wrought big-time changes in federal policy. In 1990, for the most part, Washington’s “aid to education” was just that—additional money to state and local school systems so they could provide added services of various sorts, primarily to needy and disabled youngsters. Strings were attached, yes, but these had more to do with the distribution and use of dollars than the reform of schools. Beginning in a big way in 1994, however, with passage of both the Goals 2000 Act and the “Improving America’s Schools” act, the federal government started deploying its funds in efforts to transform the performance of U.S. schools, primarily via the setting of goals and standards and the measurement of progress toward them.

Over this twenty year period, Uncle Sam shifted from “help” to “implore” to “push” to “require” and, while the money continued to flow, indeed in ever-larger amounts, the strings attached to it were now very different. This process reached its apogee—some would say nadir—with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the “Race to the Top” portion of 2009’s economic-stimulus package.

Third, besides fundamental alterations in the nature of education aid, Washington transformed its key monitoring system, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a.k.a. “The Nation’s Report Card.” The reauthorization of NAEP in 1988—which took effect around 1990—changed what had been a pokey and obscure testing program that yielded only general information into a modern performance-monitoring system that includes semi-independent governance, more frequent testing of more subjects at key grade levels, far greater transparency in reporting results and trends, bona fide state-by-state comparisons, and a semblance of uniform national standards by which to track and judge the academic prowess of young Americans and the performance of their education system.

The Rise of School Choice

Fourth, charter schools were invented, spread across the land, and won a measure of legitimacy. These “independent public schools of choice” are operated by myriad private entities rather than traditional districts, yet (unlike private schools) are financed by taxpayers, open to all comers, and accountable for their results to public authorities. Though they bear some resemblance to private schools, magnet schools, “alternative” schools, and other earlier arrangements, they are also something fundamentally new under the education sun.

The first one opened in Minnesota in 1992 and, by 2010, some 5,000 schools were serving 1.5 million youngsters in 39 states. Hundreds were run by statewide, regional, even national management organizations (some of which were starting to reach overseas), and the United States was seeing the emergence of chains of “brand-name” schools—e.g. KIPP, Achievement First, High Tech High, K12, etc.—that crossed traditional district and even state borders.

Fifth, charters turned out to be the tip of an iceberg of school choice that, when tallied in all its variety, touched roughly half of all students by 2010. That is, five in every ten pupils were enrolled in schools that they or their parents played an active role in selecting rather than passively being assigned by a district bureaucracy with geographically-based attendance zones.

To be sure, the fifty-percent estimate (some analysts say it’s more like sixty) includes millions families that exercise choice via the real-estate market, i.e. kids attend “neighborhood” schools but in neighborhoods that their parents moved into because of the schools there. But more than one in three were being educated in bona fide “schools of choice” of many sorts—including learning at home from their parents or from a widening array of distance-learning and “virtual education” providers.

Some even attended private schools with the help of publicly-financed vouchers, these having passed a key federal constitutional test with the Supreme Court’s 2003 Zelman decision. (Voucher advocates continued, however, to face many hurdles in state constitutions and legislative chambers.) Though tens of millions of youngsters still had no viable options other than neighborhood-based and district-operated schools—which served some of them well but yielded educational tragedy for others—America by 2010 had changed a fundamental ground-rule: school was now something you could expect to select for yourself rather than be assigned to by the system.

Sixth, the operation of individual schools was not the only core education function that witnessed the entry of unconventional and entrepreneurial providers. Though most teacher preparation still took place in traditional colleges of education and most of their graduates were still “certified” by states in familiar ways, lots more alternatives were visible by 2010. Many states had pathways into public-school teaching that did not pass through education schools, at least not in advance of one’s first teaching assignment. A number of school systems ran their own preparation-and-certification programs as did at least one charter operator (California’s High-Tech High).

National non-profit groups such as Teach for America and New Leaders for New Schools recruited, prepared, and placed talented individuals in classrooms and principals’ offices who otherwise would not likely have gotten there. And dozens of for-profit firms (e.g. Kaplan, Wireless Generation, Tutor.com, SchoolNet) supplied schools with data systems, tutoring programs, curriculum packages, and more. Though traditional education groups continued to hold their enormous conclaves, anyone who set foot in the annual “summit” organized by the New Schools Venture Fund might well think he had entered an alternate universe. 

Seventh, hoary patterns of governance and leadership also underwent revision—at least in some places. Governors asserted themselves in state-level K-12 policies and operations in ways that most had historically shunned. In several major cities, mayors assumed control of the school system. And where formerly the title of district superintendent was invariably bestowed on a career-long educator who had climbed the well-worn ladder from teacher to principal to assistant superintendent, etc., the leadership mantle in a handful of pioneering communities was now conferred on such unconventional characters as Joel Klein, Paul Vallas, Michelle Rhee, David Bennet, Arne Duncan, and Alan Bersin. Some state superintendents, too, now hailed from the ranks of non-educators (e.g. California’s Jack O’Connell, Texas’s Robert Scott).

Eighth, as we might expect—because much the same thing was happening in nearly every other sector of our lives—technology wrought major changes in education delivery and management. Whether taken in school under the teacher’s eye, at home under a parent’s supervision, or through organizational hybrids such as the Florida Virtual School or Ohio Virtual Academy, “online” courses spread far and wide and management gurus such as Harvard’s Clayton Christensen prophesied dramatic growth in the years ahead.

Improved data systems made it possible to track pupil and classroom performance, to evaluate teacher effectiveness, to provide parents as well as teachers and principals with instant access to information about children’s progress, and much more. E-mail enabled parents to communicate with teachers and the internet enabled teachers and students alike to access vast troves of information and materials. A vibrant market in both hardware and software meant that, at least for individuals and families that could afford it, teaching and learning of one kind or another could now occur anytime and anyplace.

Ninth, change even edged into how America pays for public education. Though school finance in most places remains an amalgam of federal, state, and local tax dollars channeled through innumerable formulas and programs, a few states (e.g. California, Michigan, Indiana) essentially shouldered full responsibility for paying for their public schools—not counting the federal parts—and several communities experimented with “weighted” funding that varied with children’s educational needs. There was even a sea change in litigation over school finance, with the controversial concept of “adequacy” replacing the much-fought-over principle of equality as activist attorneys made their way into courtrooms in their ceaseless campaign to get the third branch of government to change the flow (and quantity) of dollars in ways they usually could not accomplish through the first and second branches.

Tenth, schooling began to lose its longstanding isolation, both from other levels of education and from other social services. Instead of viewing  “K-12 education” as a hermetically-sealed function of government, state after state explored ways of integrating it more fully with preschool and postsecondary education as well as with other sectors such as health, housing, child welfare, and criminal justice. New data systems eased the former exploration—it began to be possible to track individuals’ educational progress from early childhood to graduate school—while altered governance arrangements simplified the latter. (Nothing like having all those agencies and programs under the governor’s or mayor’s aegis.) While it was premature in 2010 in most of the country to term these developments more than exploratory, the path to the future seemed reasonably clear.

Yes, a great deal of change can occur in two decades, even in so stodgy an enterprise as public education. That’s why our prognostications for the year 2030 may not be so wild-eyed or blue-skied as readers may initially suspect.

Editor's note: This essay is from an online publication of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K-12 Education,  American Education in 2030 .

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When Was the Golden Age of American K-12 Education? And How Can We Tell?

Petrilli: a look at naep scores — and the students who took those tests — provides insights into what works in the classroom and where to go from here.

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Recently, the Washington Post’s (fantastic) “Department of Data” columnist, Andrew Van Dam, ran a fun feature about “ America’s best decade ,” according to public opinion. Across a wide range of domains, from music to movies, the economy and family life, he dug into what citizens view as America’s Golden Era. Turns out it was almost always during their childhood or teenage years.

The survey didn’t ask about schools, which is too bad. But it made me wonder: When was the Golden Age of American K-12 education? The answers might provide hints about smart policies and practices for the years to come, especially as the nation continues to dig out from the COVID debacle. 

The key question is which indicators to examine. Some might point to high school graduation rates, given that educational attainment is a traditional measure of school quality. But I’m skeptical; it’s a notoriously squishy metric, since the easiest way to boost graduation rates is to lower standards — surely a major reason why grad rates are at an all-time high . 

A stronger indicator might be postsecondary completion; no doubt one of the key goals of K-12 education is to prepare students to succeed in college. But there are issues with that metric, too. Colleges can inflate graduation rates by lowering standards. Plus, there’s the newfound recognition that not everyone should go , making a focus on postsecondary education feel a bit anachronistic.

But let’s look at it anyway. These data come from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, which asked a random sample of adults ages 25 to 29 about their educational attainment. If we want to use this as a measure of the K-12 system’s effectiveness, it’s important to remember that there’s a seven- to 11-year lag between high school graduation and the reporting of the data. To make the charts easier to understand, I’ll show the years these young adults graduated from high school. (API stands for Asian and Pacific Islanders.)

As with high school graduation rates, college attainment is up, up and up, climbing from 28% of Americans who graduated from high school in the late 1990s to 41% in the mid-2010s. Note especially the tremendous progress for Hispanic students, whose college attainment rate rose 157% over this period, and for Black students, whose rate grew 68%.

Because of the time lag, there is no data for students who graduated after 2016, including the COVID cohorts. So by this measure, the heyday of American education appears to have been in the early- to mid-2010s , and possibly even more recently.

Student achievement

The other obvious way to identify the Golden Era of American Education is to look at the high point of student achievement. This is harder, if not impossible, to game — but there are issues here, too, especially with scores for 17-year-olds/12th graders. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress’s Long Term Trends series, scores for 17-year-olds peaked in the late 1980s or early 1990s in reading and in 1999 in math. Meanwhile, on the main NAEP, which has been adjusted over the decades to better align with curricular changes but goes back only to the early 1990s, 12 th graders hit their peak in 1992 in reading (the math trend goes back only to 2005, so it isn’t much use)

But because high school graduation rates have increased so dramatically over the decades — from 73% in 1990 to 86% in 2023 — I find the achievement trends for older students unreliable. It seems highly likely that low-performing students who today make it to graduation (and thus sit for the NAEP exams), but back then would have dropped out, are lowering recent achievement results.

So that leaves scores for 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds (on the LTT) and fourth- and eighth-graders (on the main NAEP). 

According to the LTT, students hit their peak in 2012, both in reading and math and for 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds. (Granted, the reading trends, especially for 13-year-olds, were pretty darn flat, so “high point” might be an exaggeration.) Scores were trending down even before the pandemic, when they fell off a cliff.

Meanwhile, on the main NAEP, students hit the high point in 2013 or 2015, depending on grade and subject area, before entering a pre-COVID decline.

So according to achievement scores, education’s Golden Era was in the early to mid-2010s . 

But is that the right answer? It’s certainly when American students performed their best, both on test scores and in terms of college attainment. The adults who were in school back then — the youngest Millennials and oldest Gen-Zers, or what some call Zennials — might be considered the Smartest Generation.

Measuring school effectiveness

But I want to know when the education system was at its best. For that, we can do better than raw test score averages. That’s for a couple of reasons. First, there is the composition of the student population. Think of the mistake some analysts made back in the Nation at Risk era, when they pointed to falling SAT verbal scores as proof that America’s education system was in rapid decline. They failed to note that the population taking the SAT was changing rapidly. Whereas it used to be just elite students taking the college entrance exam, more middle-class and even working-class kids did as well. Not surprisingly, they performed worse on the test and lowered the average scores.

That’s why the NAEP, for as long as it has existed, has been a better measure of student performance than the SAT (or ACT), given that it tests a representative sample. That addresses the selection effects problem, but doesn’t tackle the compositional effects problem — at least, not entirely. With a rapidly changing student population, as we’ve had in recent decades, average scores can mislead. 

In particular, the growing number of Hispanic students entering American schools every year — who tend to come from families with lower educational opportunity, and thus score lower on average — will automatically reduce the average test scores of the nation as a whole. Especially given that so many of these new students are still learning English. Indeed, the new federal Condition of Education report finds that the number of students classified as English learners rose by more than a million from 2011 to 2021. If we’re trying to gauge school performance, we have to control for such changes. 

One straightforward way to do so is to look at trends in student achievement for individual racial/ethnic groups. This doesn’t alter the picture much for math; the trend lines for the major subgroups track that national average pretty well, with all generally increasing until the 2010s. Here’s what that looks like for the Long Term Trend assessment for 13-year-olds:

But in reading, there were periods when all or most of the major racial groups were making progress, even though the national average looked flat. From 2002 until 2019, for example, fourth-graders’ average reading scores barely budged, ticking up just a single point. But both Black and Hispanic students made significant gains, with increases of 5 and 8 points, respectively. That progress remained hidden within the national averages, largely because the Hispanic population share was also growing rapidly at the same time.

So when we analysts reported that, pre-COVID, American reading scores were flat as a pancake, we weren’t wrong — but that wasn’t the full story. Schools were doing something to boost reading performance over time, at least for Black and Hispanic students, albeit more slowly than the country would have liked.

Cohort growth

It’s also important to consider what might be changing in American society. That’s because test scores correlate highly with family background, and those backgrounds have changed a lot over time. Child poverty rates have gone up and (mostly) down; the number of two-parent families has declined; nutrition has improved; environmental risks (like lead paint) have decreased. All these factors affect test scores.

Most importantly, what happens to kids in the years before they sit for a test — especially before they even enter school — has a big impact on their achievement. Yet, there’s no good trend line for student performance before age 9 (for the LTT) or fourth grade (main NAEP). I’ve called for the federal government to start testing students in kindergarten to partially correct for this, so we would at least get a good read on whether students are coming into schools better or worse prepared than in the past. We could then use those kindergarten scores as controls to better isolate the performance of schools versus everything else going on in society. (By one metric — the Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measures of Academic Progress test — student readiness started to fall in the early 2010s , which might partially explain the pre-COVID slump.)

In the meantime, we can apply the same logic by using fourth-grade scores as controls. In other words, looking at the changes in test scores for the same group of students as they move from fourth to eighth grade can give a rough estimate of school performance, at least in the upper elementary and middle school grades. This cohort growth measure has become popular among some analysts, including Matt Chingos at the Urban Institute, and for good reason. (Unfortunately, LTT doesn’t work for a similar analysis because its testing schedule has been too irregular. Likewise with grade 12 trends on the main NAEP.)

We’ll focus here on math, given that progress in reading has been so slight, and see when cohort growth was the strongest. This provides a very different answer: The mid- to late-1990s were the heyday of American education . Indeed, whereas achievement kept improving until the early to mid-2010s, the trend for cohort growth is generally downward. 

Though not shown here, the cohort patterns look largely the same when disaggregated by race and percentile level, though the mid-2010s slump was particularly bad for the lowest-achieving kids and for Black students — as was the COVID era.

Summing it up

So where does that leave us?

• Student achievement reached its all-time high in the early to mid-2010s, before slumping through the rest of the decade and then falling off a cliff during COVID. College attainment was also highest for students who graduated high school in the early to mid-2010s, though it might have kept rising afterward. The young Americans who were in school in the early to mid-2010s, then, might be considered our Smartest Generation.
• Gains in math have been particularly impressive over the years, at least until the 2010s — though schools performed somewhat better in reading than national averages indicate, given the rapidly changing composition of the student population, especially the dramatic rise in (lower-scoring) Hispanic students and English learners.
• However, schools’ productivity — in terms of boosting students’ test scores from grades 4 to 8 — peaked much sooner, in the mid to late 1990s, before declining somewhat in the 2000s and even more in the 2010s. The mid to late 1990s, then, might be considered American Education’s heyday.

The late 1990s were indeed a Golden Age , when the Cold War was over (and the war on terrorism hadn’t started), the economy was booming, child poverty was falling and the combination of increased school spending and consequential accountability were marching across the land. (No, those weren’t my childhood or teenage years, but it was the time when I was lucky to join the nascent education reform movement.)

As an eternal optimist, I must remain hopeful that another Golden Age might be right around the corner. I know, COVID learning loss was massive, and kids are still entering school behind where they used to be. And educators are struggling mightily with a student engagement crisis, with chronic absenteeism , misbehavior and phone addiction creating daily challenges. 

But at the same time, many states and districts have been investing in high-dosage tutoring , getting their act together when it comes to the Science of Reading and adopting ( if not fully implementing ) high-quality instructional materials . A strong economy is keeping child poverty rates low, too. All these factors should help kids make progress in the years ahead — especially if policymakers decide to bring back a measure of accountability as well . 

If we analysts focus on cohort growth rather than raw trend lines, Americans might spot a rebound sooner than many naysayers expect.

Special thanks to Fordham senior research associate Meredith Coffey for the extensive data analysis represented here.

Michael J. Petrilli is president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.

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Partisan divides over K-12 education in 8 charts

K-12 education is shaping up to be a key issue in the 2024 election cycle. Several prominent Republican leaders, including GOP presidential candidates, have sought to limit discussion of gender identity and race in schools , while the Biden administration has called for expanded protections for transgender students . The coronavirus pandemic also brought out partisan divides on many issues related to K-12 schools .

Today, the public is sharply divided along partisan lines on topics ranging from what should be taught in schools to how much influence parents should have over the curriculum. Here are eight charts that highlight partisan differences over K-12 education, based on recent surveys by Pew Research Center and external data.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to provide a snapshot of partisan divides in K-12 education in the run-up to the 2024 election. The analysis is based on data from various Center surveys and analyses conducted from 2021 to 2023, as well as survey data from Education Next, a research journal about education policy. Links to the methodology and questions for each survey or analysis can be found in the text of this analysis.

Most Democrats say K-12 schools are having a positive effect on the country , but a majority of Republicans say schools are having a negative effect, according to a Pew Research Center survey from October 2022. About seven-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (72%) said K-12 public schools were having a positive effect on the way things were going in the United States. About six-in-ten Republicans and GOP leaners (61%) said K-12 schools were having a negative effect.

About six-in-ten Democrats (62%) have a favorable opinion of the U.S. Department of Education , while a similar share of Republicans (65%) see it negatively, according to a March 2023 survey by the Center. Democrats and Republicans were more divided over the Department of Education than most of the other 15 federal departments and agencies the Center asked about.

In May 2023, after the survey was conducted, Republican lawmakers scrutinized the Department of Education’s priorities during a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing. The lawmakers pressed U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona on topics including transgender students’ participation in sports and how race-related concepts are taught in schools, while Democratic lawmakers focused on school shootings.

Partisan opinions of K-12 principals have become more divided. In a December 2021 Center survey, about three-quarters of Democrats (76%) expressed a great deal or fair amount of confidence in K-12 principals to act in the best interests of the public. A much smaller share of Republicans (52%) said the same. And nearly half of Republicans (47%) had not too much or no confidence at all in principals, compared with about a quarter of Democrats (24%).

This divide grew between April 2020 and December 2021. While confidence in K-12 principals declined significantly among people in both parties during that span, it fell by 27 percentage points among Republicans, compared with an 11-point decline among Democrats.

Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to say teachers’ unions are having a positive effect on schools. In a May 2022 survey by Education Next , 60% of Democrats said this, compared with 22% of Republicans. Meanwhile, 53% of Republicans and 17% of Democrats said that teachers’ unions were having a negative effect on schools. (In this survey, too, Democrats and Republicans include independents who lean toward each party.)

The 38-point difference between Democrats and Republicans on this question was the widest since Education Next first asked it in 2013. However, the gap has exceeded 30 points in four of the last five years for which data is available.

Republican and Democratic parents differ over how much influence they think governments, school boards and others should have on what K-12 schools teach. About half of Republican parents of K-12 students (52%) said in a fall 2022 Center survey that the federal government has too much influence on what their local public schools are teaching, compared with two-in-ten Democratic parents. Republican K-12 parents were also significantly more likely than their Democratic counterparts to say their state government (41% vs. 28%) and their local school board (30% vs. 17%) have too much influence.

On the other hand, more than four-in-ten Republican parents (44%) said parents themselves don’t have enough influence on what their local K-12 schools teach, compared with roughly a quarter of Democratic parents (23%). A larger share of Democratic parents – about a third (35%) – said teachers don’t have enough influence on what their local schools teach, compared with a quarter of Republican parents who held this view.

Republican and Democratic parents don’t agree on what their children should learn in school about certain topics. Take slavery, for example: While about nine-in-ten parents of K-12 students overall agreed in the fall 2022 survey that their children should learn about it in school, they differed by party over the specifics. About two-thirds of Republican K-12 parents said they would prefer that their children learn that slavery is part of American history but does not affect the position of Black people in American society today. On the other hand, 70% of Democratic parents said they would prefer for their children to learn that the legacy of slavery still affects the position of Black people in American society today.

Parents are also divided along partisan lines on the topics of gender identity, sex education and America’s position relative to other countries. Notably, 46% of Republican K-12 parents said their children should not learn about gender identity at all in school, compared with 28% of Democratic parents. Those shares were much larger than the shares of Republican and Democratic parents who said that their children should not learn about the other two topics in school.

Many Republican parents see a place for religion in public schools , whereas a majority of Democratic parents do not. About six-in-ten Republican parents of K-12 students (59%) said in the same survey that public school teachers should be allowed to lead students in Christian prayers, including 29% who said this should be the case even if prayers from other religions are not offered. In contrast, 63% of Democratic parents said that public school teachers should not be allowed to lead students in any type of prayers.

In June 2022, before the Center conducted the survey, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a football coach at a public high school who had prayed with players at midfield after games. More recently, Texas lawmakers introduced several bills in the 2023 legislative session that would expand the role of religion in K-12 public schools in the state. Those proposals included a bill that would require the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every classroom, a bill that would allow schools to replace guidance counselors with chaplains, and a bill that would allow districts to mandate time during the school day for staff and students to pray and study religious materials.

Mentions of diversity, social-emotional learning and related topics in school mission statements are more common in Democratic areas than in Republican areas. K-12 mission statements from public schools in areas where the majority of residents voted Democratic in the 2020 general election are at least twice as likely as those in Republican-voting areas to include the words “diversity,” “equity” or “inclusion,” according to an April 2023 Pew Research Center analysis .

Also, about a third of mission statements in Democratic-voting areas (34%) use the word “social,” compared with a quarter of those in Republican-voting areas, and a similar gap exists for the word “emotional.” Like diversity, equity and inclusion, social-emotional learning is a contentious issue between Democrats and Republicans, even though most K-12 parents think it’s important for their children’s schools to teach these skills . Supporters argue that social-emotional learning helps address mental health needs and student well-being, but some critics consider it emotional manipulation and want it banned.

In contrast, there are broad similarities in school mission statements outside of these hot-button topics. Similar shares of mission statements in Democratic and Republican areas mention students’ future readiness, parent and community involvement, and providing a safe and healthy educational environment for students.

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Mini-Grants for K-12 Educators Teaching Native American Content

Minnesota educators at public, private, charter, and tribal schools are eligible to apply for up to $2,000.

The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community (SMSC), in partnership with the Minneapolis Foundation, is pleased to announce the second and final grant round of a program that provides educators with small grants to assist them in teaching Native subject matter accurately. This funding opportunity is part of the SMSC’s Understand Native Minnesota  campaign, which is focused on improving the narrative about Native peoples, their history and culture, and tribal governments in Minnesota K-12 schools.

The program has approximately $150,000 available for mini-grants for the 2024-2025 school year, with awards of up to $2,000 per educator. Educators at public, private, charter, and tribal schools are all welcome to apply.

Program Goals

This mini-grant program aims to:   

• Promote the acquisition and use of Native-specific resources for classrooms and libraries.   
• Develop new standards-aligned curriculum resources.   
• Support educators in attending high-quality, Native-specific professional development.   
• Support experiential learning opportunities both in and out of the classroom.   
• Implement best practices for Native students.

Eligibility

This funding opportunity is open to educators at Minnesota K-12 schools statewide. This includes educators at public, tribal, charter and private schools. Individual educators, groups of collaborating educators, and schools may all apply. Applicants who have already received funding through this opportunity are not eligible to apply a second time.

What We Will Fund

Proposals should align with one or more of the five key categories for funding. These include:    

• Resources and/or materials for the classroom that address current or upcoming Minnesota state academic standards.  
• Professional development that specifically focuses on Native content or best practices for working with Native students.  
• Classroom projects or experiential learning opportunities that expand classroom learning about Native content.  
• Curriculum and resource development that meets current or upcoming Minnesota state academic standards.   
• Other activities which are consistent with the goal of teaching Native content more accurately and comprehensively.   

Grant dollars must be fully expended by June 30, 2025.

Application Process

We will begin accepting applications on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. All applications must be submitted by 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. We do not accept late applications or submissions via email.

All applicants will be notified of funding decisions by Dec. 1, 2024.

All applications must be submitted online through the Minneapolis Foundation’s online portal, GranteeView. If you are applying for a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation for the first time, you will need to set up an account for yourself and for your school in our system. Follow the instructions on  this webpage  to register yourself as a Grant Administrator and your school as a grantee organization.

Before starting your application, please review the  Mini-Grant Guidelines and Application Preview Worksheet . This will help you determine whether your proposal aligns with the funding criteria of the mini-grant program.

You can also use this example budget to help prepare your application.

Apply Now >>

Information Session

We recorded a Zoom webinar about this grant round on August 20, 2024. Watch it here .

Further Information

If you have questions about your application, please reach out to the following:

• Guidance on Native American curriculum and professional development: Odia Wood-Krueger, [email protected]  
• Questions about grant guidelines: Josh Johnson, [email protected]
• Help logging in to the application portal: [email protected] or 612-672-8665

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Philosophy & Religion

A Proper Understanding of K-12 Education: Theory and Practice

9.5 h total length

Discover the true purpose and principles of K-12 education.

Education is one of the primary means by which human beings become fully human. The American Founders understood that a liberal education—which entails proper instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic—prepares the student for self-government and is therefore essential for the maintenance and prosperity of a free society. The liberally educated soul seeks to grasp the highest things and, with the help of others, to live in light of them.

In this free, 12-lecture online course, “A Proper Understanding of K-12 Education: Theory and Practice,” you will examine the classical understanding of the purpose of education, the more recent Progressive approach that has become dominant today, and some essential, though often neglected or misunderstood, elements of K-12 education—including phonics, handwriting, composition, Latin, and more.

Join us today in this important study of how a proper K-12 education can enable human beings to live fully human lives through the cultivation of wisdom and virtue.

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Lessons in this course.

Teaching Education at Hillsdale College

Education is one of the primary means by which human beings come to be fully human. The American Founders understood that a liberal education—which includes proper instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic—prepares the student for self-government and is therefore essential for the maintenance and prosperity of a free society. The liberally educated soul seeks to grasp the highest things and, with the help of others, to live in light of them. This kind of education requires hard work on the part of the student and the teacher.

A Proper Understanding of Education

In the ongoing debates over contemporary education policy, questions regarding different conceptions of human nature are ignored or assumed to be irrelevant. However, a proper education seeks to discover what man is and what he ought to be. Human nature, properly understood, should inform education policy, which in turn makes larger societal or political goals possible to achieve.

The Progressive Influence on Modern Education

John Dewey, a leading Progressive thinker, sought to reform education in accordance with Progressive ideals. Some of his proposals were attempted haphazardly, and parts of his philosophy persist in education today. However, Dewey’s educational program was never fully implemented, much to his dismay.

Learning to Read and Write: Phonics and Handwriting

Over the course of the 20th century, phonics instruction was largely rejected and replaced with other methods. Yet, to create a skilled reader, teachers must guide their students from the decoding of single characters to comprehending complex sentences. Explicit phonics instruction is essential for achieving this educational goal.

Stories and the Teaching of History

Contemporary education policy often views the task of learning history as nothing more than the memorization of dates and names. As a result, Americans today have lost familiarity with some of the greatest stories of the past. In turn, they have forgotten the importance of the virtues taught therein. Teaching history through meaningful and inspiring stories reminds students and parents alike of the vital importance of such virtues for a free society.

The Tried and True Way to Teach Math

In addition to being used to manipulate numbers and to solve equations for practical purposes, mathematics traditionally has been viewed as a tool of reason and logic. As such, it is an essential means of preparing students for higher learning. With the rise of a Progressive approach to education, the teaching of mathematics was dumbed down, focusing only on its direct practical value. A return to the tried and true way to teach math would prepare children to understand and express great ideas.

Why Grammar is Essential

Since antiquity, grammar education has been viewed as foundational to the liberal arts. Consequently, grammar was taught from a young age and with great care. With the rise of Progressive education theory, grammar education largely disappeared from K-12 curricula. A return to explicit grammar instruction would restore grammar to its proper place and help to inculcate in students a love of the English language and the Western tradition.

The Teaching of Science and the Problem with STEM

The study of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is often viewed as merely a means to the ends of gaining employment and competing with other nations in a global economy. However, science is something to be studied for its own sake. Properly taught, the study of science inculcates a sense of wonder in students and promotes scientific discovery.

The Importance of Literature

Contemporary education begrudgingly views literature as a subject that must be taught, and it is considered a subject of little value for college and career preparation. Literature is usually taught as a historical or cultural artifact, as a tool for reflection on culture or self, or as a means of teaching moral lessons. While these approaches are useful, the primary focus of proper literature education should be to teach the student to enter into and engage with the world of the author.

Why Learn Latin

The study of Latin greatly enhances a student’s understanding of the English language, more than half of which is derived from Latin roots. Learning Latin is also helpful in fields such as medicine and law, which employ numerous Latin words and phrases. In addition, the principal reason for the study of Latin is that it allows one to engage in a conversation with some of the greatest thinkers of the Western tradition.

The Fundamentals of Writing

Writing is a difficult subject to teach well because the process of writing is different for each writer. The teacher must understand the fundamentals of writing—logic, organization, focus, and purpose. In addition, these fundamentals must be taught properly to the student in order to develop a habit of mind that produces good writing.

Looking Forward

The purpose of education is to enable human beings to live fully human lives. In order to achieve this goal, students must develop the virtues of character and thinking by means of careful study and practice. Parents and teachers are the best resources for such learning.

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Education policy: How Harris and Trump differ on K-12, higher education and more

When it comes to education, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have vastly different views for the nation.

Several unions representing educators and administrators -- including the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the American Federation of School Administrators -- have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

Former federal education leaders President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Education William Bennett and Reagan's Under Secretary of Education Gary Bauer have registered their support for Trump for President. Trump's Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has said she would work for Trump again but has stopped short of an endorsement.

Take a look at their record and what the two have said so far about their hopes and plans for both K-12 and higher education.

The Department of Education

Trump's Agenda47 campaign has proposed eliminating the U.S. Department of Education which, according to the DOE website, "establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education." Trump, in a campaign video, has said he wants states, not the federal government, to have control over schools.

Throughout Trump's presidency, he proposed billions in cuts to the Department of Education's budget.

Harris' campaign as well as the Biden-Harris administration have criticized Trump for threatening to dismantle the department while expressing support for federal funding and policy initiatives from the agency.

Harris has been criticized for not putting forth many official policy positions, including education, since her campaign began roughly a month ago. Amid scrutiny, her campaign released an economic agenda with expectations of future policy rollouts to come in the final days on the campaign trail.

School choice

Trump has backed universal school choice programs, which allow a student's allotment of public education funds to be transferred to nonpublic schooling options -- including private and religious schools or homeschooling. Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act during his presidency, which his campaign states allowed parents to use up to $10,000 from a 529 education savings account to cover K-12 tuition costs at a school of their choice.

The Democratic 2025 platform opposes the use of private-school vouchers and tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarships, "and other schemes that divert taxpayer-funded resources away from public education."

Funding for low-income students and families

The Biden-Harris administration secured billions of dollars to increase federal funding for schools that largely serve low-income families, directing billions toward resources and funding for low-income schools but also increased funding to special education services, career and technical education and English-language learning programs.

In a 2019 bill, then-Sen. Harris proposed establishing “Family Friendly School” policies at 500 elementary schools to align the school day with the workday in support of working families.

Harris has spoken out in favor of 21st Century Community Learning Centers -- which host programs predominantly for students who are in high-poverty and low-performing schools and the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs which provides yearslong grants for services at high-poverty middle and high schools.

Trump proposed cuts to both programs in annual budget proposals under his administration.

Both the Biden-Harris and Trump-Pence administrations have seen increases to Head Start , a program that provides federally subsidized preschool for low-income children.

The Biden-Harris administration increased funding for Head Start by roughly $2 billion since the start of their term. Trump's administration saw a roughly $1.3 billion increase during his term.

Trump also sought to "expand K-12 educational options for disadvantaged children impacted by the pandemic," and signed an Executive Order to provide emergency K-12 scholarships using Federal Community Service Block Grants so students could access in-person learning opportunities in December 2020.

K-12 curriculum

Trump's campaign has detailed a plan centering on prayer in public schools, an expansion of parental rights in education, patriotism as a centerpiece of education and the "American Way of Life."

This includes a dismantling of so-called "woke" or diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in education and reinstating his administration's 1776 Commission which focuses education on the history and "values" of the founding of the United States of America. However, Trump has called for cutting federal funding for schools or programs that feature “critical race theory, gender ideology or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children.”

Trump plans to "promote positive education about the nuclear family, the roles of mothers and fathers, and celebrating rather than erasing the things that make men and women different and unique."

Harris has spoken out against efforts to ban books and restrict classroom content regarding race.

She called controversial Black history guidelines in Florida in 2023 "revisionist history" for requiring middle schoolers to learn "how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit."

Teacher pay

When Harris first ran for president in 2019, she proposed closing "the teacher pay gap" between teachers and other professions that require a college degree -- which Harris said would be a $13,500 salary bump for teachers as schools nationwide continue to report staffing shortages and poor funding.

According to the National Education Association (NEA), the national average for starting teacher salaries is $44,530 and the national average teacher salary is $69,544. The Department of Education also found that 94% of teachers paid out of pocket for school supplies for their classrooms in a 2018 study.

Trump's Agenda47 states that he will support teacher merit pay, which ties a teacher's compensation to student performance. Some studies have shown that merit pay programs could improve student outcomes, while some argue there is not enough evidence , and that there are various factors that impact student performance -- including funding and resource inequity.

Teacher tenure and hiring

Trump's Agenda47 states he plans to put an end to teacher tenure laws. These laws are described by the United Federation of Teachers as state laws that prevent a school district from dismissing a tenured teacher without due process. Most states have tenure laws in place, however at least 10 states have zero or limited tenure laws, according to the NEA.

In a campaign video, Trump states he wants to abolish these policies "to remove bad teachers."

Trump also plans to create a credentialing body to certify teachers who "embrace patriotic values and support the American Way of Life" and encourage schools to allow trained teachers to carry concealed weapons at school.

The Biden-Harris administration has touted the tens of billions of dollars it has invested in staffing through the American Rescue Plan, which filled gaps in employment stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Biden-Harris administration's American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funded the hiring and training of more counselors, social workers and other staff in schools nationwide amid what has been called a mental health crisis.

Student loan forgiveness and free higher education

Harris has long been a proponent of free two-year college tuition for most students and for free four-year college and trade school tuition for students from lower- and middle-income families.

The Biden administration has touted student loan forgiveness as a central part of its education platform -- in July, the Department of Education laid out options for roughly 25 million borrowers to have some, or all, of their debt canceled.

This most recent proposal came after Biden and Harris' initial effort to cancel some or all debt for 43 million people was overturned by the Supreme Court. Despite the roadblock, the administration says it has forgiven more than $144 billion for millions of Americans through other programs.

More than 940,000 of these are public servants who have their federal student loans forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program -- up from the 7,000 recipients enrolled in the program before the Biden-Harris administration took office.

During Trump's time in office, he proposed eliminating the PSLF and making cuts to the Pell Grant program.

Trump's agenda for 2025 focuses on plans to create a new, free university called the "American Academy" and fund it by "taxing, fining and suing" private universities.

"Its mission will be to make a truly world-class education available to every American, free of charge, and do it without adding a single dime to the federal debt," said Trump. "This institution will gather an entire universe of the highest quality educational content, covering the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills, and make that material available to every American citizen online for free."

Recent Title IX changes

The Biden-Harris administration recently issued new rules that say Title IX protects students from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and expanded protections from sex-based harassment to include “sexual violence and unwelcome sex-based conduct that creates a hostile environment by limiting or denying a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from a school’s education program or activity.”

The regulations update also enhances protections for students, employees and applicants against discrimination "based on pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions." However, parts of it have been blocked from enforcement by conservative-led lawsuits.

Trump has said he would overturn the new regulations connected to what he has called "gender insanity."

Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Both Trump and Harris have invested in HBCUs, which have long been underfunded by the federal government, throughout the years.

During Trump's time in office, he signed into law the bipartisan FUTURE Act to permanently send $255 million in annual funding for HBCUs, forgave $322 million in disaster loans to four HBCUs in 2018, and signed legislation that included more than $100 million for scholarships, research and centers of excellence at HBCU land-grant institutions.

Harris proposed increased funding for HBCUs in her first presidential run -- particularly focusing on training for Black educators. The Biden-Harris administration sent more than $16 billion in funding and investments to these schools from 2021 to 2024.

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Data Documentation

Key assumptions and information related to tntp’s national k – 12 teacher and student demograp hi c dashboards..

TNTP g athered teacher and student demograp hi c data for as many years as it is available . We have agg re g a ted data in all 47 states where teacher demograp hi c data is collected. Of the 47 states, 43 have current student and teacher data for the 2022 – 23 school year.

Key Facts and Figures

View a list of key facts and figures along with detail on sources and assumptions.

Data Sources and Availability

TNTP gathered teacher and student racial demographic data for as many years as it is available. We have aggregated data in all 47 states where teacher demographic data is collected.  

Teacher data is sourced from state departments of education and other publicly available information.  

Student data is sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics.  

Data date ranges:  

• Of the 47 states (plus the District of Columbia), 43 have current student and teacher data for the 2022-23 school year.   
• Hawaii, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Tennessee’s most recent data is from the 2021-22 school year, and California has data from 2018-19.   
• Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont rely on survey data from the 2020-21 school year.   

TNTP has not independently verified the accuracy of the data provided by these governmental agencies.  

For detailed state-by-state information about data sources, key assumptions, and the number of years of data available by state, visit our data documentation page.  

Charter and Specialized Schools

Our goal is to include demographic data on as many public school teachers and students as possible—traditional public schools, charter schools, and specialized schools. Charter school data is integrated into the analysis when available, specifically within the traditional school district in which the charter school is located.  

Review our data sources for detailed information on whether charter schools are included based on state data availability.  

Data for specialized schools such as adult education, pre-K, regional schools, prison-based schools, schools on military bases, schools serving deaf and blind students, and virtual schools , are rarely available but included if so.  

Definitions

These dashboards define a person of color as someone who identifies as one of the following six race categories established by the National Center for Education Statistics : American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or two or more races.  

The student-teacher diversity gap represents the percentage of students that identify as a person of color minus the percentage of teachers that identify as a person of color.  

Dashboard Notes

• National Student and Teacher Demographics Maps : The data shown represents the most recent year for which the state makes data available. See detailed data documentation by state for further details.  
• Detailed Student and Teacher Demographics : The “United States” student and teacher counts include the most recent year of data for all states where detailed race/ethnicity is available. Data for all race/ethnicity categories is not available in Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, and Vermont — these states are not included in the “United States” counts.  
• Trends in Student and Teacher Demographics : The “United States” student and teacher counts include states that have five years of data from the 2017-2018 school year through the 2022-23 school year. The following states do not meet these criteria and are excluded : California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.  

Updates to Data and Dashboards

• June 4, 2024 : Initial launch of the webpage containing three data dashboards — National Student and Teacher Demographics Map, Detailed Student and Teacher Demographics, Trends in Student and Teacher Demographics.
• If you notice data that you think may be inaccurate or incomplete, please contact [email protected]

District Boundaries

In some states, school district boundaries overlap with others. School districts consisting exclusively of elementary schools often have boundaries that are encompassed by school districts that contain their zoned high school. In these cases, students and teachers from the elementary district are included in the student and teacher counts in the high school district that encompasses the elementary district boundary. This is common in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, and New Jersey. Use the drop – downs below to find the district where data for exclusively elementary school districts is located .  

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At TNTP, we partner with communities to drive meaningful change in America’s public education system, ensuring it meets the expectations of tomorrow. We understand the vital importance of educator diversity in this mission. From programming like Black Educator Excellence Cohort and The Village , to leadership roles in system-change initiatives such as the One Million Teachers of Color (1MToC) campaign , we’re strengthening our educator workforce and driving deeper impact for students.

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Look for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. †

Pursue Christ and His Kingdom

Classical Christian schools have been called a “pearl of great price” in education: greatly valued by those who understand its potential, but largely unrecognized by those who do not.

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ANSWERING THE QUESTION

Why Classical Christian?

Battle for the American Mind

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I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 1:4

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Restoring a Christian Paideia

The classical Christian system nurtured Christian children for nearly 2000 years. And then, we forgot about it. In this short 17-minute documentary, learn why classical Christian education has seen the fastest, most consistent growth of any private school movement in the U.S.

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

Jeremiah 6:16.

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A Classical & Christ-Centered Education

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Plan your visit and see all that Logos School has to offer. Visit Logos

Serving families on the Palouse with a Classical and Christ-Centered Education for over 40 years

“Our mission at Logos School is to provide a Classical and Christ-centered education in order to graduate young men and women who are equipped to shape culture through wise and victorious Christian living.”

Members of the Logos School faculty understand that theirs is a high calling. They go beyond ordinary expectations in their efforts to instruct and inspire students and faithfully commit to embodying a set of core promises to our families. These core promises include:

• Modeling the Christian life
• Encouraging students in their walk with the Lord
• Pursuing academic excellence
• Inspiring students to develop a love for learning and wisdom
• Teaching from a biblical worldview
• Providing an orderly and safe atmosphere
• Insisting upon graciousness in all interactions
• Embodying excellence
• Demonstrating servants’ hearts and laboring in harmony

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Logos stories.

Stories from Logos families students, graduates, and alumni. View All

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This education is incredible (luke mason, drew pilchard, boden lloyd), building on a christian worldview (wes struble), flourishing at logos school (chet & kat hervey), investing in souls (bekah merkle).

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FACT CHECK: Is Critical Race Theory (CRT) Taught in American K-12 Schools?

During a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing, Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) asked the Democratic witness if critical race theory (CRT) is taught in K-12 schools in America. The witness promptly answered “no.” and the congresswoman declared:

False. Completely make believe.

Scores of evidence show that many K-12 schools are teaching critical race theory and lessons inspired by CRT. A quick look at Parents Defending Education’s (PDE) Indoctrination Map reveals that Crockett’s home state of Texas has 48 reported incidents in which critical race theory and equity are taught in public schools.  

Even my home state of Iowa, a “purple” state filled with people of many political persuasions, has 12 recorded incidents of public schools peddling critical race theory and equity to students. 

A September 2022 City Journal article explains a research study conducted amongst 18- to 20-year-olds, 82.4% of whom attended public schools. The study asked if they had heard about different concepts pertaining to critical race theory, and the results are clear. The City Journal article goes on to explain, “For the CRT-related concepts, 62 percent reported either being taught in class or hearing from an adult in school that ‘America is a systemically racist country,’ 69 percent reported being taught or hearing that ‘white people have white privilege.’” In other words, yes, critical race theory is taught in American K-12 schools.

In June 2021, Education Week ran the article “Map: Where Critical Race Theory Is Under Attack,” with details like “States’ Actions on Critical Race Theory.” If critical race theory is not being taught, then outlets like Education Week and their subscribers ought not be concerned with the topic being “under attack.”Meanwhile, reading and math scores in the U.S. are at their lowest in decades, and students increasingly face mental health concerns. Crockett and her colleagues should focus on improving public education for all of America’s children instead of engaging in Capitol Hill chicanery.

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FACT CHECK: Is Transparency in Schools a Parent’s Right? 

Ginny gentles | $(document).ready( function() { // or shorthand of $( function () { $.each($(".latest-author"), function(index, value ) { if($( this ).text().indexof("’") >= 0){ $author_name = $( this ).text(); $new_text = $author_name.replace("’", "'"); $( this ).text($new_text); } }); }); unicorn fact check, fact check: are most illegal aliens entering the u.s. to flee oppression, meaghan mobbs | $(document).ready( function() { // or shorthand of $( function () { $.each($(".latest-author"), function(index, value ) { if($( this ).text().indexof("’") >= 0){ $author_name = $( this ).text(); $new_text = $author_name.replace("’", "'"); $( this ).text($new_text); } }); }); unicorn fact check, fact check: is corporate greed causing inflation, patrice onwuka | $(document).ready( function() { // or shorthand of $( function () { $.each($(".latest-author"), function(index, value ) { if($( this ).text().indexof("’") >= 0){ $author_name = $( this ).text(); $new_text = $author_name.replace("’", "'"); $( this ).text($new_text); } }); }); unicorn fact check, fact check: will solving the housing crisis solve the homelessness crisis, michele steeb | $(document).ready( function() { // or shorthand of $( function () { $.each($(".latest-author"), function(index, value ) { if($( this ).text().indexof("’") >= 0){ $author_name = $( this ).text(); $new_text = $author_name.replace("’", "'"); $( this ).text($new_text); } }); }); unicorn fact check, sign up for updates.

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