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International Journal of the Whole Child                                         

2020, VOL. 5, NO. 1           

                                                                       
 

Education by the Numbers   

Donald Sneada 

aMiddle Tennessee State University  

Donald Snead (B.S.in Natural Science, M.A. Teaching in Curriculum & Instruction, Ed.D. 

Curriculum & Instruction in Science Education) is a professor in the Educational Leadership 

Department at Middle Tennessee State University. Committed to a social constructivist 

philosophy, he teaches courses in curriculum, leadership, and research methods. Dr. Snead is an 

inductee into the Kentucky Distinguished Educators Cadre. His research interests focus on 

improving learning for all students. 

 

The Basics 

Most Americans embrace the philosophy for U.S. education and believe it is a necessity for life 

(Ozmon, 2012). Two initial questions become: “how many students participate and what is the 

budget”?  

In the United States, the estimated cost for all related spending on public Pre-K-12 education in 

2019-2020 school year is $680 billion ($13,440 per student).  This is seven percent of the GDP.  

There are approximately 50.8 million students attending public elementary, secondary and 

Charter schools.   

There are 35.5 million students enrolled in Pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.  



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Table 1: Students enrolled in Pre-K - 8th Grade 

 

There are 15.3 million students in secondary (9th grade-12th grade). 4.1 million students are 

enrolled in 9th grade, and typically enter high school.  

 

The demographics of public-school students, Pre-K-12: 

White Students 46.7% (23.7 million) 

Hispanic Students 27.4% (13.9 million) 

African American (Black) Students 15.2% (7.7 million) 

Asian Students   5.3% (2.7 million) 

American Indian/Alaska Native Students   1.0% (.5 million) 

Pacific Islander Students   0.4% (.2 million) 
Figure 1: Demographics of public-school students enrolled in Pre-K - 12th grade 

References 

Ozmon, H. A (2012). Philosophical Foundations of Education, (Ninth edition). Pearson, New  

York, NY 

U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics (2019). Retrieved March  

6, 2020 from https://nces.ed.gov/FFastFacts  

 

  

Pre-K, 1.4
Kindergarten, 3.7

1st-8th, 30.4

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Pre-K Kindergarten 1st-8th

IN
 M

IL
LI

O
N

S
STUDENTS ENROLLED IN PRE-K - 8TH GRADE 

https://nces.ed.gov/FFastFacts

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