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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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72% of U.S. high school teachers say cellphone distraction is a major problem in the classroom

Some 72% of high school teachers say that students being distracted by cellphones is a major problem in their classroom.

U.S. public, private and charter schools in 5 charts

During the 2021-22 school year, 83% of the country’s public, private and charter school students in pre-K through 12th grade attended traditional public schools.

A quarter of U.S. teachers say AI tools do more harm than good in K-12 education

High school teachers are more likely than elementary and middle school teachers to hold negative views about AI tools in education.

Most Americans think U.S. K-12 STEM education isn’t above average, but test results paint a mixed picture

Just 28% of U.S. adults say America is the best in the world or above average in K-12 STEM education compared with other wealthy nations.

About 1 in 4 U.S. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year

59% of public K-12 teachers say they are at least somewhat worried about the possibility of a shooting ever happening at their school.

About half of Americans say public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction

A majority of those who say it’s headed in the wrong direction say a major reason is that schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects.

What Public K-12 Teachers Want Americans To Know About Teaching

Many public K-12 teachers say people should know that teaching is hard job, and that teachers care about students and deserve respect.

What’s It Like To Be a Teacher in America Today?

Public K-12 teachers express low job satisfaction and few are optimistic about the future of U.S. education.

Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools

We asked public K-12 teachers, teens and U.S. adults how they see topics related to race and LGBTQ issues playing out in the classroom.

From Businesses and Banks to Colleges and Churches: Americans’ Views of U.S. Institutions

Americans overwhelmingly see small businesses as having a positive effect on the way things are going in the country. By contrast, their views of large corporations are broadly negative. And most people – including identical shares in both parties – are critical of the impact of banks and financial institutions.

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K-12 education in the United States

Statistics report on K-12 education in the United States

This report presents statistics and facts on K-12 education in the United States. The report begins with an overview of the K-12 education system, highlighting population-based demographics and differences between private and public institutions, with further information provided on revenue and expenditure. The report then outlines the rise of state legislation restricting materials and instruction in K-12 schools and libraries, as well as continuing inequalities in U.S. education. Perceptions from K-12 teachers and parents are also revealed, along with opinions from the American public themselves, demonstrating how the nation remains politically divided over their system of formal schooling.

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Table of contents.

• 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

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

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

Inequalities in education

• 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

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

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

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

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• Basic Statistic Expenditure on education system in Finland 2000-2022
• Premium Statistic Contentment with K-12 basic education Philippines 2019-2022
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• Premium Statistic Priority measures to improve education system performance in France 2013-2022
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults satisfied with the education system 1999-2023

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K-12 Education

At a glance.

• Too many K-12 students in the U.S.—especially Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds—experience math as a barrier to success rather than as a gateway.
• We believe that all students can develop the knowledge, skills, and agency to thrive in their communities and in the workforce, and that race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status should not be predictors of educational attainment or economic mobility and security.
• We support the development and use of high-quality math instructional materials and invest in strong teacher preparation and support programs.
• We work with partners that help districts and schools implement practices, protocols, and systems changes that support strong math instruction.
• We invest in research and partnerships to develop new tools that can be translated into high-quality math instruction.

Our strategy

One of the most powerful ways for students to be able to take charge of their own future is through success in math. Math teaches students to make sense of the world and how to be better problem solvers and critical thinkers. Building on our two decades of work in helping to improve K-12 teaching and learning in the U.S., we have made a 10-year commitment to focus on math instruction and outcomes as the cornerstone of student success.

We envision math instruction that is tailored to student needs. The teacher uses digital tools to personalize learning and ensures that students get the help and practice they need to master key concepts. The classroom is an inclusive environment where all students see their interests reflected in the work they are doing. Teachers receive valuable preparation, mentoring, and professional learning aligned to the instructional materials, and they are part of a broader community of math educators who work together to tailor instruction and spread best practices.

Every student deserves this type of classroom, and every teacher deserves this kind of support. This is already happening in some schools across the country. But we want this to be the rule rather than the exception.

We look forward to a time when all students can see themselves as “math kids,” learn in the math classroom they deserve, and use math as a tool to prepare them for the future they envision for themselves.

Visit our U.S. Program website

Our U.S. Program works to ensure that everyone in the U.S. can learn, grow, and get ahead, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or family income.

Areas of focus

Educators deserve better teaching materials that are academically rigorous, engaging, and motivating to students. We work with partners to develop high-quality materials that are complemented by digital resources that offer maximum personalization for different student learning needs.

Even the best instructional materials can’t have an impact without accompanying support for the teachers who use them. We invest in strong teacher preparation and support programs that align with high-quality math curricula.

We help school districts implement practices, protocols, and systems changes that are most essential for supporting strong math instruction for all students. We also work with the U.S. Program’s Pathways team to create stronger alignment between high school and college math curricula, and we invest in R&D to bridge the gap between research and practice.

Allan Golston

Allan Golston, president of the foundation’s U.S. program, shares his excitement (in the video below) to help more students see the joy of math through our K-12 strategy over the next decade. We believe math is for everyone. Through high quality instructional materials, teacher supports, and working with school districts to implement better practices, our goal is to increase student engagement to support their life and career goals.

Why focus on K-12 education?

While many factors affect outcomes for K-12 students, research shows that those who pass Algebra 1 by 9th grade are twice as likely to graduate from high school and are more likely to earn a bachelor’s degree and go on to a well-paid career.

But too many K-12 students in the U.S.—especially Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds—experience math as a barrier to success rather than as a gateway. Many feel out of place in the math

classroom and experience instruction that doesn’t show the relevance of math to their lives. Unfinished learning brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has added to these challenges, widening learning gaps among those with inequitable access to math learning supports.

That’s why we have made a 10-year commitment to focus our K-12 grantmaking on supporting teachers, schools, and districts in their efforts to improve math outcomes.

The Math Classroom All Students Deserve

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K-12 Education

Issue summary.

The U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies work to ensure that 50 million students in K-12 public schools have access to a safe, quality education. However, a history of discriminatory practices has contributed to inequities in education, which are intertwined with disparities in wealth, income, and housing. Moreover, there are ongoing concerns about the safety and well-being of all students. To help address these issues, Education should strengthen its oversight of key programs, policies, and data collections.

For example:

• The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning for millions of students during the 2020-21 school year. Certain student populations were more likely to face significant obstacles to learning in a virtual environment—such as high-poverty students and students learning English. Some children also never attended class during the 2020-2021 school year.
• As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of remote education, K-12 schools across the nation have increasingly reported ransomware and other types of cyberattacks. Federal agencies offer products and services to help schools prevent and respond to cyberattacks. But Education's plan for addressing risks to schools was issued in 2010 and needs an update to deal with changing cybersecurity risks.
• The U.S. is experiencing a shortage of teachers – a problem that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic amid reports of teachers leaving the profession, fewer new teachers entering, and schools struggling to hire teachers. While Education has introduced a strategy to address these issues, progress can be made to ensure its efforts are working.
• While nearly all public school districts require students to adhere to dress codes, concerns about equity in school dress codes have included the detrimental effects of removing students from the classroom for dress code violations. A review of a nationally representative sample of public school district dress codes revealed school dress codes more frequently restrict items typically worn by girls. Additionally, rules about hair and head coverings can disproportionately affect Black students and those of certain religions and cultures.
• School districts spend billions of dollars a year (primarily from local government sources) on building and renovating facilities at the nearly 100,000 K-12 public schools nationwide. A survey of school facilities brought up common issues and priorities, such as improving security , expanding technology, and addressing health hazards. Additionally, about half of districts reported needing to update or replace multiple systems like heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) or plumbing. Accessing public school facilities was also reported as a challenge, with survey results showing that two-thirds of school districts had facilities with physical barriers that may limit access for students with disabilities.
• Even before the pandemic, virtual public school enrollment was growing—mostly in virtual charter schools. Compared to students in brick-and-mortar public schools, 2018-2019 data showed that a lower percentage of virtual school students took state achievement tests, and their scores were significantly lower. Also, Education officials said the virtual environment makes it harder to monitor attendance. Certain federal funds are allocated using attendance data, so there's a risk that virtual schools could get more or less funding than they should.
• Education requires public school districts to biennially report incidents of restraint (restricting a student’s movement) and seclusion (confining a student to a space alone). However, Education’s data quality checks may not catch misreporting or statistical outliers. For instance, 70% of districts reported 0 incidents of restraint and seclusion, but Education’s quality check only applies to fewer than 100 large districts. Education also doesn’t have a quality check for districts reporting relatively high incident rates—such as one that reported an average of 71 restraint incidents per student per year.
• A review of school shooting data found that half were committed by current or former students. Suburban and rural, wealthier, and low-minority schools had more school-targeted shootings; such shootings were the most fatal and most commonly committed by students. Urban, poor, and high-minority schools had more shootings overall and were more motivated by disputes; these shootings were often committed by non-students or unknown shooters.

Recent Reports

K-12 Education: DOD Should Assess Whether Troops-to-Teachers is Meeting Program Goals

K-12 Education: Additional Guidance Could Improve the Equitable Services Process for School Districts and Private Schools

K-12 Education: New Charter Schools Receiving Grants to Open Grew Faster Than Peers

K-12 Education: Education Should Assess Its Efforts to Address Teacher Shortages

K-12 Education: Department of Education Should Provide Information on Equity and Safety in School Dress Codes

K-12 Education: Charter Schools That Received Federal Funding to Open or Expand Were Generally Less Likely to Close Than Other Similar Charter Schools

K-12 Education: Student Population Has Significantly Diversified, but Many Schools Remain Divided Along Racial, Ethnic, and Economic Lines

Pandemic Learning: Less Academic Progress Overall, Student and Teacher Strain, and Implications for the Future

Pandemic Learning: Teachers Reported Many Obstacles for High-Poverty Students and English Learners As Well As Some Mitigating Strategies

Special Education: DOD Programs and Services for Military-Dependent Students with Disabilities

District of Columbia Charter Schools: DC Public Charter School Board Should Include All Required Elements in Its Annual Report

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I want to lead, i want to learn, register for the newsletter, resource library, budget, deficits, and debt, demographics, defense and national security, other programs, retirement security, taxes and revenues, infographics, you are here, how is k-12 education funded.

Public schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) are financed through a combination of local, state, and federal dollars in proportions that vary across and within states. In the 2021 fiscal year, the most recent data available, spending for public K-12 education totaled $795 billion from all sources, reflecting an increase for the ninth consecutive year.

State and local governments provide the vast majority of funding for K-12 education — 89 percent of all school funding. State governments rely on formulas that distribute education funds among school districts. Those school districts use state dollars and additional revenue raised from federal and local sources to fund individual schools. Although both states and localities apply approaches intended to allocate funds fairly, disparities nevertheless occur . Those disparities primarily stem from the sources of revenues and the varying costs of providing education in each school district.

Meanwhile, the federal government provides a small share of education funding through specific grant programs. They are designed to supplement funding for schools with at-risk youth, including students with disabilities or from low-income households. During recent economic downturns, federal spending has also helped supplement diminished school funding from state and local sources.

Federal Funding Programs for K-12

The federal government provides support for K-12 education through specific grant programs administered by the states to school districts. Federal dollars supplement state resources by narrowing funding gaps for at-risk students through programs such as Title I grants under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and Part B grants under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Federal funds made up just $85 billion or 11 percent of total education funding during the 2021 fiscal year. That amount increased from 2020 levels ($58 billion) partially due to legislation enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which provided emergency relief funding to address the impact that COVID-19 had on elementary and secondary schools.

Title I ESEA

Title I grants provide funds to school districts serving large shares of low-income students. It is the largest grant program of ESEA, totaling $14 billion during the 2021 fiscal year. Those funds are allocated through four formulas that are based on the number of eligible students and several provisions, including a state's target level of funding per student. Eligible students include children ages 5 to 17 in:

• low-income families;
• institutions for neglected or delinquent children or in foster homes; and
• families receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families payments.

Part B IDEA and Other Programs

During the 2021 fiscal year, the federal government provided $11 billion in IDEA grants to states. Those funds are awarded through a formula based on a state's total population with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 , the percentage of those individuals living in poverty, and the state's IDEA appropriations in 1999.

The federal government also allocated $17 billion for child nutrition , which was used to reimburse schools that provided free or reduced-price lunches to eligible students. About $5 billion of federal funds went directly to school districts for various programs including Impact Aid. In addition, the federal government provided $0.6 billion for vocational programs and $37 billion on the aforementioned programs for which reporting units could not provide distinct amounts.

State Funding Formulas for K-12 Education

States use formulas that aim, at least in part, to equitably distribute education funding across school districts. Although their ability to do so is limited by the resources available, those formulas account for locally raised revenues and the needs of students in each district. As a result, the state's share of education funding tends to be higher in school districts with a low capacity to raise revenues. State funding is also higher in school districts with a large concentration of students who are English-language learners, have low family incomes, or have other special needs.

Nearly all states (46 out of 50) primarily allocate education funds through foundation program formulas. Such programs establish a minimum level (or "foundation") of funding per student and ensure that each school district receives enough school funding to meet that foundation. The funding provided through foundation programs may also take into account different student characteristics, such as family income and disability status, to ensure at-risk students receive sufficient resources.

Local Funding Methods for K-12

In addition to the revenues allocated by the federal and state government, school districts raise funding at the local level, in general by levying local property taxes. Once revenues are raised and allocated from federal, state, and local sources, school districts are tasked with distributing that funding to each school in the district. School districts have typically allocated teachers, administrators, and equipment to each school while calculating funding per student retroactively based on the resources assigned.

In recent years, a number of school districts have moved away from that process and have begun to develop budgets for individual schools that apply the concept of weighted student funding formulas to assign resources based on student need. Proponents of student-based allocation argue that it would improve transparency by reflecting actual expenditures per school and promote equity by linking resources to specific needs. However, many states have layers of rules that limit the application of this new approach. Moreover, as a relatively new practice among school districts, comprehensive research on its effects is not yet available .

Why Does Education Funding Differ Across School Districts?

Nearly 40 percent of funding for public education stems from local taxes. As a result, funding can vary widely among school districts based on the wealth of families living in them. School districts with high-value property are often able to fund their schools above the minimum level established by the state, contributing to wider disparities. Those disparities become more apparent during economic downturns because wealthier school districts benefit from relatively stable revenues from property taxes. In contrast, funding for school districts more reliant on the state, and specifically a state income tax, tends to vary with economic performance. Ultimately, the variation in school finance systems produces disparate results, with some states spending far more on each student than others.

Differences in wealth among districts are partially attributable to remnants of racial covenants — legal contracts embedded in property deeds to prevent nonwhite people from moving in. Although those covenants have not been enforceable for decades, their impacts persist today. For example, a 2019 analysis by EdBuild found that predominantly nonwhite districts received $23 billion less than predominantly white districts from state and local governments despite serving the same number of students.

Despite school districts allocating resources based on standardized factors like student-teacher ratios that, in theory, should fairly distribute funding per student between schools, there can be significant disparities in the amounts actually spent on schools within a district. That can partially stem from the school district’s practice of distributing resources, not dollars, which masks higher spending for some schools. For example, a school assigned educators with more experience would receive higher funding for teacher compensation .

While state financing programs aim to fairly distribute funding and resources across all school districts, no state is capable of fully equalizing funding disparities. Those disparities are driven by differences among districts in the cost of education as well as the ability and willingness of districts to spend money on education. Further, while financing from the federal government has resulted in increased funding for disadvantaged students, the method of financing is also limited.

How Has Education Funding Changed over Time?

Over the past century, the local share of education funding has declined, with state funding largely making up the difference. The federal share of education funding has been relatively constant over the last 40 years after generally rising from 1920 to 1980.

State revenue streams are an important tool in limiting funding disparities, but can be particularly volatile during recessions , leading to reductions in funding for programs like education. In recent economic downturns, for example during the Great Recession, federal support has increased to offset declines in state resources. However, while federal funding was used to mitigate state-level declines during the 2007–2009 recession, average education funding declined when the economy recovered and federal funding tapered off. Many states did not compensate for the loss of federal funding ; in 2019, 17 states spent less than they did in 2008 (in inflation-adjusted terms), according to the Pew Charitable Trusts.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government sent an additional $190 billion to states and school districts in emergency funding for K-12 education . That investment is nearly triple the amount the federal government spent on K-12 education in the previous school year and increased the share of education revenue received from federal sources. That spending was intended to assist schools in responding to the pandemic while maintaining academic progress. Federal spending on K-12 education is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in subsequent years.

K-12 education funding is an important investment in our future . Understanding the complicated joint commitment and relationships among local, state, and federal governments to fund education is a key part of discerning its place in the budget among other priorities and against the backdrop of an unsustainable federal fiscal outlook .

Solutions Initiative 2024

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• Enterprise applications of AI

osorioartist - Fotolia

AI for education brings benefits to burdened school staff

Using ai in education can have a dramatic impact on the way teachers use their time and the manner in which students are served individually. expect the trend to continue..

• Kathleen Walch, Cognilytica

Artificial intelligence technology is having a big impact on the experience of providing and delivering education. It's already transforming the way students learn, assisting teachers and smoothing application and admissions processes.

AI transforms education inside and outside the classroom

Many K-12 classrooms struggle to adequately serve students of varying ability levels. Public schools in particular have stretched budgets and staff, which makes it hard to provide individualized attention to each student to ensure basic concepts are mastered before moving on. AI-powered tools are now starting to fill that gap, with customized tutoring and study programs to help those students struggling with basic concepts.

Through machine learning, these tools create adaptive learning features and personalized instruction, enabling each student to learn in the manner that best suits their abilities and pace, without impeding other students' educational experience. In essence, these AI systems are providing automated, personalized tutors. In the past, private tutors were a luxury only few could afford. However, as companies continue to create AI for education tools, almost all children can now get the personalized attention they need to learn to the best of their abilities.

Teachers have a long list of responsibilities that include things like grading homework, evaluating essays, responding to parent inquiries, creating lesson plans and other noninstructional tasks. AI tools are now helping with many of these activities, freeing up teachers' time and allowing them to focus on things that require a personal touch, like providing attention to students who need more hands-on instruction, facilitating group projects or leading classroom discussions. AI systems are grading math and science exams, work projects and some reading and writing assignments. While these AI systems have yet to prove themselves in terms of quality and applicability, schools that face limited budgets are finding the extra help provided by AI-enabled systems to be valuable.

Relieving administrative burdens with AI

Higher education and primary school private institutions struggle under heavy administrative burdens. Many schools, especially large state schools with high enrollments and popular schools with high application volumes, can struggle to handle the application and admissions process. Filtering through this large pool of potential students is often time-intensive, tedious and error-prone.

Universities and higher education institutions are using AI-based systems that borrow from the capabilities of job application and HR tools to help manage the applicant pool. These tools automatically winnow the candidates down to a desired batch that fits certain application criteria and automate some of the information gathering and interview steps, if required. In this way, AI for education is providing an augmentative role for these institutions, assisting existing staff with various duties and responsibilities without replacing them.

Furthermore, admissions staff are often burdened with multiple, often simple and repetitive inquiries from prospective students or parents. Forward-thinking institutions are using AI-powered chatbots to relieve some of this burden by answering questions about campus, student life and the admissions process, including where students stand in the process.

Many learning institutions and campuses with large student populations are taking the use of AI a step further. The process of getting settled into campus life and learning your way around, finding out about various student groups and familiarizing yourself with the locations of classes is daunting for many incoming students. Arizona State University (ASU) is using AI-enabled voice assistants in a unique and compelling way to address these problems. In addition to giving a group of incoming freshman the usual orientation packet, the school last year gave students an Amazon Alexa device pre-loaded with a companion that the university developed. The voice skill device is able to help students find out about ASU events, provide hours of operation for popular ASU businesses and buildings, answer frequently asked questions about the academic calendar and acquaint students with the school. ASU cited greater student satisfaction, higher usage of available facilities and a smaller burden on administrative staff from students using the device.

AI tools are additionally being used in the college educational experience. They are performing the work of Cliffs Notes, condensing and summarizing textbooks into smaller, more digestible study guides. One such system, Cram101 , creates study guides with chapter summaries, practice exercises, tests and flashcards for students to use to study. This smart content allows students enhanced learning options not available before. Some platforms even provide feedback to professors for real-time insights into where each student stands in their classroom.

Augmenting, not replacing educators and administrators

The use of AI technology in the education industry is estimated to grow by 47.5% through 2021, according to analyst firm Research and Markets. Research firm Global Market Insights estimated that total market value of AI for education will grow to more than $6 billion by 2024 . The key to this growth is that AI will be augmentative to most teaching institutions, helping add capabilities where they either didn't exist, such as the case of content summarization technology, or where high human labor capacity is required.

These AI tools will allow teachers to see in real time which students need more instruction, which students need to be pushed to the next level, and provide a helping hand for assigning and grading homework and tests. In addition, they will alleviate some of the workload of front office staff, provide the ability to answer questions 24/7 through AI-powered chatbots and allow students to feel more engaged and connected with various campus activities. Since many school budgets aren't slated to increase much in the years ahead and the labor load continues to grow, the use of AI to augment educators' and administrative staff abilities continues to gain traction.

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• Environment

Spending per student in K-12 public schools

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How much does the government spend on education?

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Preprimary enrollment

4.39 million

K-12 enrollment

56.28 million

Public School Staff

6.63 million

Explore Spending per student in K-12 public schools

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What America Spends on K-12: The Latest Federal Snapshot

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The financial effects of the pandemic wave that crashed into schools in March 2020 are still coming into focus—but new data offer a glimpse at the state of play as the crisis was revving up.

America invested $795 billion in local, state, and federal money on its K-12 public schools for the 2019-20 school year, according to new annual federal school spending data released Wednesday. That figure is roughly comparable to the federal government’s $700 billion defense budget that year, and represents a 1.5 percent increase in overall school district revenue compared with the previous fiscal year.

Roughly 93 percent of that money came from state and local sources, with the federal government contributing the rest through programs like Title I, Impact Aid for schools that serve students who live on federal land, and Indian Education, for Native American students. The percentage of state and local funds in that total increased relative to the previous year.

The data, drawn from the annual National Public Education Financial Survey distributed each year by the U.S. Department of Education, include only a tiny portion of the $30 billion allocated to schools in March 2020 through the CARES Act pandemic relief package .

Roughly $537 million, or less than 2 percent, of CARES Act funds, were reported in time to appear in this year’s data, said Stephen Cornman, a statistician for the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the department’s Institute for Education Sciences.

That means next year’s figures will offer a far more comprehensive picture of the pandemic’s fiscal impact on schools—new and chaotic expenditures, and multiple rounds of federal emergency relief that will continue to ripple out in balance sheets for years to come.

A few other key statistics in the data offer a picture of how school finance works in the United States:

• Four-fifths of all public education spending went to salaries and benefits. In some districts , that percentage is even higher.
• Ten percent of school revenue went toward “capital outlay.” That includes construction, renovation, and maintenance , which are typically funded separately from operating expenses because they take multiple years to finance and complete.
• $17,000 separated the states with the highest and lowest average per-pupil spending. Utah spent $8,200 per student, while New York spent $25,000 per student. Three other states—Connecticut, New Jersey, and Vermont—and D.C. also spent more than $20,000 per student. Seven other states—Arizona, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah—also spent less than $10,000 per student.
• Education funding is highly volatile, depending on where you live . Delaware spent 12.8 percent less on K-12 schools in the 2019-20 school year than it did the previous year. New Mexico, by contrast, raised spending year over the previous year by 9.3 percent. Most other states saw an increase or decrease between zero and 2 percent.

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