Enrollment
851
California · 2024-25 NCES data
2024-25 NCES data Middle school (grades 6-8) NCES 060474000443
Martin Luther King Middle — Berkeley, CA
Federal NCES profile for Martin Luther King Middle, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators — Resource Investment Index 47/100.
👥 Class size 29
🌟 Gifted program 30
🎓 Counselors 59
📋 Attendance 71
How this works: Each indicator above is scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC data, then averaged into the Resource Investment Index. This measures resource allocation — staffing, programs, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes. Full methodology →
School address
District: Berkeley Unified · California
Public location data per NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) Common Core of Data. Verify the school's current address on the NCES CCD record.
Teachers (FTE)
49.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
17.8:1
vs 21.6:1 California avg
-18% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
18.7%
vs 55.5% California avg
-66% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Martin Luther King Middle compares with California and U.S. medians
The federal record — no proprietary index, no editorial formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal measurements — enrollment, staffing, demographics, discipline, and finance — straight from the NCES Common Core of Data, CRDC, and F-33 surveys. No composite rating, no opinion-based score on top. You get the same raw numbers researchers and policymakers use, with benchmarks, spending context, and equity indicators computed from the same federal datasets. Full methodology linked below.
What this school's NCES data tells you
Martin Luther King Middle reports 851 enrolled students to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) alongside 49.0 full-time-equivalent teachers, producing a 17.8:1 student-teacher ratio. That figure sits 18% below the California state mean of 21.6:1, signalling more teacher attention per pupil than the state benchmark. Against the national 2024-25 average of 15.9:1, it is 12% higher, a useful calibration for families comparing districts across state lines.
Title I and federal lunch eligibility offer another window into the student body: 18.7% of pupils qualify for free meals, a proxy for household income that federal programs use to direct funding. The free-lunch share is 66% below the California average and 64% below the national baseline. Counselor coverage works out to roughly 203 students per counselor, meeting the American School Counselor Association recommendation of 250:1. Chronic absenteeism — missing 10% or more of school days — stands at 11.8% according to the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.
On the finance side, the surrounding Berkeley Unified spends $28,034 per pupil district-wide, above the California average of $18,039 and above the national average of $19,490. Revenue comes 64.6% from local sources (property taxes), 29.0% from the state, and 6.4% from federal programs per the NCES F-33 finance survey. Taken together, these measurements produce a Resource Investment Index of 47/100 (D), calculated from 4 distinct NCES and CRDC indicators measuring resource allocation rather than academic outcomes.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Martin Luther King Middle compares
Cross-validating school-level NCES values against California state and U.S. national means lets readers see whether this school is an outlier or in line with peers.
| Metric | This school | vs California | California avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 17.8:1 | ▼ 18% | 21.6:1 | 15.9:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 18.7% | ▼ 66% | 55.5% | 51.8% |
| Enrollment | 851 | top 85% | — | — |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
What the federal data reveals about equity at this school
Federal measurements — not ratings — surface the resource and opportunity picture. Below are the indicators that researchers, civil-rights monitors, and funding formulas use to assess equity.
Economic need
18.7%
free-lunch eligible
— 66% below the California average of 55.5%
Below the 40% Title I threshold — federal aid targets individual qualifying students rather than schoolwide programs.
Staffing depth
17.8:1
students per teacher
— 18% below state mean
Top 16% in California — lower ratio than 84% of state schools
Between 15:1 and 20:1 — in line with the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
11.8%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
Between 10–20% — above the pre-pandemic baseline of ~15% nationally but within the current U.S. range.
Funding equity
$28,034
per pupil, district-wide
— above California avg of $18,039
Above the U.S. public-school average, reflecting higher local or state investment per enrolled student.
Support staff
Counselors4.2 FTE
Per 203 students — the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
7
in-school suspensions + 19 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.8 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
Enrollment 851 Top 85% in California — larger than 15% of 10,006 state schools
Teachers (FTE) 49.0
Students per teacher 17.8:1 -18% vs state
Free-lunch eligible 18.7% -66% vs state
NCES ID 060474000443
Student demographics
White 42.4%
Hispanic or Latino 20.4%
Two or More 15.5%
African American 10.6%
Asian 10.6%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Largest group: White at 42.4% of enrollment.
Programs & staff
Counselors (FTE) 4.2
Students per counselor 203:1
Discipline & special education
Chronically absent 11.8%
In-school suspensions 7
Out-of-school suspensions 19
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Berkeley Unified, which includes Martin Luther King Middle.
$28,034
Per student
+55%
vs California
Avg $18,039
+44%
vs U.S.
Avg $19,490
Revenue mix
Local 64.6%
State 29.0%
Federal 6.4%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 3,218
- Students per teacher
- 17.9:1
- Enrollment
- 596
- Students per teacher
- 16.1:1
- Enrollment
- 469
- Students per teacher
- 17:1
- Enrollment
- 462
- Students per teacher
- 12.5:1
- Enrollment
- 410
- Students per teacher
- 18.8:1
Similar middle schools in Berkeley
2 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.
Educator & family resources
In-depth guides on understanding NCES data, school choice, and education funding.
Understanding NCES data
How CCD, CRDC and EDFacts feed every public-school number you see.
Choose a school district
Eight signals that matter more than the overall ranking number.
How schools are funded
Title I, F-33, state aid formulas and what per-pupil spending really means.
Chronic absenteeism
Why missing 10% of school matters and how it varies by district.
Magnet vs charter vs traditional
Three school types, three funding models, three sets of trade-offs.
School discipline data
What CRDC suspension and expulsion records do and don't reveal.
Frequently asked questions about Martin Luther King Middle
How many students attend Martin Luther King Middle?
Martin Luther King Middle has 851 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Berkeley, CA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Martin Luther King Middle?
The student-teacher ratio at Martin Luther King Middle is 17.8:1, which is 18% lower than the California average of 21.6:1 and 12% higher than the national average of 15.9:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Martin Luther King Middle?
18.7% of students at Martin Luther King Middle are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Martin Luther King Middle?
The largest demographic group at Martin Luther King Middle is White at 42.4%. The school serves a diverse student body in Berkeley, CA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Martin Luther King Middle?
Martin Luther King Middle has a Resource Investment Index of 47/100 (D) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. This index measures federal resource allocation — staffing levels, program availability, and support services — not standardized test scores or academic outcomes.