What is public education (pre-K–12th grade)?

Public education is education that is offered to children free of charge by the government and is considered compulsory across the United States. In 2016, 50.2 million students attended 98,158 public elementary and secondary schools across the United States.1Public education typically is offered to students in prekindergarten (pre-K) through 12th grade, although the ages and grades of compulsory attendance vary across localities.2

Typically, public education is first provided to young children in pre-K or kindergarten, but learning begins at home with parents and caregivers and continues with child care, nursery school or preschool. Although this 101 focuses primarily on public education from pre-K through 12th grade, it is important to note that the infrastructure for early childhood education is markedly different from the publicly funded school system. Early childhood education, sometimes referred to as early learning or early education, is widely and increasingly recognized as a critical developmental period for children. For an overview of research on the benefits of early childhood education, see this National Education Association reference: Research on Early Childhood Education.

EARLY LEARNING

Early learning is a particularly important area of focus for supporting families with children living in low-income households, who may not be able to afford child care or have access to enrichment programs for young children during this important developmental stage. A variety of programs and supports are available to families with young children living in low-income households, supported by federal, state and local funding and provided through public entities and nonprofit organizations. Examples of programs and services are summarized here.

• Child care, nursery school and preschool: It should come as no surprise that access to safe and affordable child care is a critical resource for any family and is particularly challenging for families with young children in low-income households. Child care can be provided by family, friends or neighbors or in more formal settings, such as registered or licensed child care homes, child care centers, nursery schools or preschools. These entities can be publicly or privately operated, and a variety of subsidies, scholarships, sliding-fee scales, tax credits and discounts may be available through federal, state or local programs to help support income-qualifying families.
• Head Start: A program of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Head Start is well known for offering free and comprehensive services to families with children under the age of 5 through Early Head Start (for children under the age of 3) or Head Start (for children ages 3–5).
• Pre-K: Although a preschool may focus more generally on developmental and social skills for young children, pre-K programs focus specifically on school readiness and preparation for kindergarten. Pre-K programs may be offered to income-qualifying households at public elementary schools, and may be funded by a combination of federal, state and local funding, with increasing support from state governments based on a growing recognition of the importance of early childhood education.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

Elementary schools (also known as primary schools) typically serve students in pre-K through eighth grade. Older elementary school students may be served at middle schools, typically ranging from sixth through ninth grade, depending on the school district. Secondary schools serve students in ninth through 12th grade. Several types of schools offer education to minors, as described in the following section on the most common types of schools and school systems. Although public education is free and compulsory for most minors, a quality education is not available to all students. Such factors as school funding, concentrated poverty, segregated neighborhoods, ineffective or inexperienced teachers, implicit bias and lower expectations for students of color, ineffective curricula, unequal access to mental health supports, and low-quality facilities could limit students’ access to a quality education. In addition, students may experience problems associated with poverty — such as hunger, housing instability or homelessness, or trauma — that need to be addressed before they can focus on learning.

What are the most common types of schools and school systems?

A variety of schools offer education to minors across the United States. The following table provides a brief description of the schools providing public education across the country. These are described in greater detail in the following sections. Although this 101 focuses specifically on public education, a brief description of private schools, post-secondary programs and other educational services is provided at the end of this section on common types of schools and school systems.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Public schools are the most common type of school in the United States, offering free education to all children within their designated district or catchment area. Public schools are governed by a government entity and are paid for through a combination of federal, state and local funding. The level and composition of funding for public schools varies by state.11 Typically, states expect localities to raise revenues for public schools through property taxes or income taxes. This creates significant disparities in funding for public education for localities with limited tax bases.

CHARTER SCHOOLS

Charter schools are publicly funded but differ from traditional public or magnet schools in that they are governed by a private or nonprofit organization. State legislatures must pass a “charter” that allows the establishment of charter school.12 Most but not all states have passed charter school legislation.13 Chartering authority varies by state, allowing districts, universities or nonprofits to authorize charter schools. Charter schools allow administrators more flexibility and autonomy than traditional public schools in nonacademic operations, such as hiring and in adherence to local- and state-mandated curricula. The number of charter schools across the country increased from 2,000 to 7,000 between 2000 and 2016.14

MAGNET SCHOOLS

Magnet schools are publicly funded and governed by a government entity but have a special focus or curriculum designed to attract students from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Programming and admission may be based on special interests or abilities (e.g., art, music, math), grades or test scores. Magnet school programs can be embedded within traditional public schools or can stand alone. There were 3,164 magnet schools in the United States in 2016.15

VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

Virtual schools are publicly funded schools that do not require a physical facility. Instead, students and teachers are connected online. Teachers may conduct lessons through a livestream or record lessons for students to watch on their own schedule. Online, virtual or distance learning also may be offered by schools that have physical facilities. There were 562 virtual schools operating across the United States in 2016.16

ADDITIONAL SCHOOLS AND SERVICES

Private School and Home-school: Private schools, including religious schools, and home-schooling are education options outside of the public school system. In 2016, 5.8 million students attended 34,576 private elementary and secondary schools, while another 1.7 million students were home-schooled.17

Post-secondary Programs and Schools: After high school graduation or attainment of a high school equivalency, students often need additional training to prepare for a career. Post-secondary education and training may include programs at four-year colleges and universities, two-year colleges, and vocational and technical providers. Vocational and technical providers may include for-profit businesses, nonprofit organizations, workforce system organizations (such as American Job Centers) and employers. Post-secondary education and training programs could lead to an education certificate (which may take less than two years), a credential (which may or may not be recognized formally by industry), a college degree (a bachelor’s or an associate’s degree) or a graduate degree (a master’s degree or doctorate). In addition, apprenticeship programs may allow people to train while working in a job. To learn more about the range of service providers in local workforce systems, visit the Urban Institute’s online Local Workforce System Guide. Additional research from the Urban Institute on post-secondary programs outside of four-year colleges can be found here: Postsecondary Education and Training.

Other Educational Services: In addition to traditional primary and secondary school options, many other services are offered to promote educational attainment. Most public schools offer access to educational services for learning differences or English language development. Student learning may continue after the school day or during the summer through out-of-school-time programming. Many schools offer such activities as sports, art and community service clubs for students in middle and secondary grades. This programming may be designed to support academic achievement by offering mentoring, homework support, enrichment activities or college readiness courses. Programming may be offered by the school or by another agency or organization working in the school.

What types of organizations typically work in education at the local level?

Numerous organizations work in education at the local level, in such areas as providing or supervising education, advocating for teachers and students, or offering related services, such as workforce development. The table below presents a list of education organizations and a description of their roles.

How is education regulated?

Much of the regulation of schools is set at the state level, offering greater consistency in accountability standards within each state than are found in the housing sector. States set key policies and standards for what students should know, accountability frameworks, human capital policies and school choice policies. States also decide whether to set curricula, offer a list of options, or let districts decide which curricula to use.19 States also make decisions about sources and levels of funding for education.

According to the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are responsible for establishing teaching and learning standards in their ESSA plans, which their districts and schools must meet. Most of the standards are based on standardized test scores, but ESSA requires states to identify at least one nonacademic measure as well. Every three years, states use these standards to identify schools that need improvement and intervention by the state. School districts often use proficiency on standardized tests to measure school quality, but point-in-time test scores often reflect student disadvantage. As a result, schools that serve disadvantaged students often are characterized as low quality, even when teachers are teaching successfully and students are learning successfully. It also is important to consider academic progress, which is reflected in year-to-year gains in test scores for individual students.

The federal government is concerned with supplementing state and local efforts, particularly on behalf of vulnerable students. The U.S. Department of Education also monitors and addresses inequities for protected groups through its Office of Civil Rights and runs programs to protect and support economically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, students in foster care and students experiencing homelessness. The federal government also works to increase innovation and access to information about evidence- based education policies and practices.

How do school zones or boundaries affect public education?

All school districts have policies to determine where students can enroll in school. Some enrollment policies are based entirely on place of residence. If a student’s residence falls within a school’s service area, catchment area or zone, that student is eligible to attend the school. However, charter and magnet schools generally do not have catchment areas. When demand for charter schools is greater than the supply, the schools may admit students by lottery. Magnet schools sometimes use other admission criteria, such as test scores.

Some school districts align with city or county boundaries, while others do not. School districts in the mid-Atlantic and New England states tend to align with county, township or city boundaries, whereas districts in the Midwest, Great Plains and Western states tend to be independent of municipal boundaries. District boundaries may not align with Census Tracts or Block Groups, which form the building blocks for Urban Areas, Metropolitan Areas, and ZIP Code Tabulation Areas. This spatial mismatch can make it more challenging to gather data about the neighborhood demographics and characteristics of the districts in which schools are located. Nonetheless, online tools are available to help link American Community Survey (ACS) data to school data, such as through the National Center for Education Statistics.

“School choice” refers to an arrangement that allows parents to decide which of two or more publicly funded schools their child will attend.20 Students may attend a traditional public school outside of their assigned school boundary, a magnet program, or a public charter school, or they may obtain a voucher or tax credit to offset the cost of private school tuition. Some school choice programs limit students to attending only schools within a school district (“intradistrict”), and others allow students to enroll in schools in a different district (“interdistrict”).21

What is the impact of education on families?

The importance and benefits of a quality education are well documented. Getting a quality education increases what students know, whether they go on to or complete post-secondary education, and whether they will earn enough to sustain a family and maintain good health. Educational attainment is positively correlated with earnings and negatively correlated with unemployment.22 Without a quality education, students are less likely to be able to support themselves. In addition to having lower earnings and employment than high school graduates, individuals who drop out of high school have worse health and make up a larger proportion of the institutionalized population. 23

Education research has produced competing evidence about the aspects of education that are most important for achievement and attainment. Some studies explore the influence of teacher quality, teacher turnover, class size and curricula. Others explore the role of segregation in economic and racial achievement gaps. One recent study found that racial segregation leads to disparate outcomes because it concentrates children of color in high-poverty schools.24 Another suggested that the achievement gaps created by racial segregation can be addressed through funding, finding that, “for low-income children, a 10 percent increase in per-pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public schooling was associated with 0.46 additional years of completed education, 9.6 percent higher earnings, and a reduction of 6.1 percentage points in the annual incidence of adult poverty.” The research hypothesized that school districts with greater funding can offer smaller class sizes, increased adult-to-student ratios in the school, increased instructional time for students and increased teacher compensation, resulting in improvements in student outcomes.25

Funding for students depends on how the federal, state and local funding streams for schools interact with other policies and the demographics of the state and district.26 As already discussed, states typically expect local jurisdictions to generate revenues for public schools through property or income taxes. With poor localities having limited tax bases to generate school revenue, this funding structure can create significant disparities in public education within and across regions.27 Through court orders, some states compensate for regressive local spending, but other states do not compensate for this disparity in funding. As a result, the revenue for public education varies across and within states, leading to significant disparities in educational quality.

In addition to the importance of education funding generally, research shows positive outcomes from quality education, beginning with early childhood education through high school and post-secondary preparation. For younger learners, early childhood education is associated with kindergarten readiness and later school success.28 For secondary students, those who complete high school are more likely to work full time, year-round and earn more than students who do not complete high school. Among workers age 25 and older, median weekly earnings in 2017 were $515 for those without high school, $718 for those with high school but no college, $1,189 for those with a bachelor’s degree, and $1,451 for those with an advanced degree.29 Other examples of research on education outcomes are included in Appendix D: Education Outcomes.