Delaware runs 223 public schools across 42 districts, with a 14.1:1 average classroom and — of students on subsidized lunch.
223
public schools
42
school districts
14.1:1
avg student–teacher
—
free/reduced lunch
What the NCES Data Says About Delaware Schools
Delaware operates 223 public K-12 schools organised into 42 independent school districts serving 140,539 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, Red Clay Consolidated School District, enrolls 14,771 pupils across 28 schools at $21,267 per student, while smaller rural districts can run fewer than a dozen campuses. This fragmentation — inherited from century-old township governance patterns in many states — is why per-pupil spending, class sizes, and programme availability vary dramatically inside a single state boundary.
Statewide, the average student-teacher ratio is 14.1:1, a useful benchmark for comparing any individual district or school on PlainSchools. The district table below is sortable by enrollment, school count, and per-pupil expenditure — the three fields that best predict a district's financial and demographic profile. For schools specifically, use the rankings links above to view per-category leaderboards covering spending, class size, best schools by composite quality score, chronic absenteeism, and funding-equity distribution within the state.
Every district figure here pulls from two distinct federal surveys: enrollment and demographic data come from the NCES Common Core of Data 2024-25 (school membership and directory), while per-pupil spending, teacher salaries, and federal/state/local revenue shares originate in the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey (typically FY 2021-22). Civil-rights indicators — gifted enrollment, AP course counts, counselor staffing, chronic absenteeism, in- and out-of-school suspensions — come from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Cross-referencing these three sources is what lets PlainSchools produce composite scores and equity rankings that single-source tools cannot.
Delaware's average class size vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means smaller classes)
14smaller classes than 59% of 51 US states
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education — NCES Common Core of Data · 2024-25
Federal data — no proprietary formula.
PlainSchools publishes the actual federal survey data — enrollment, staffing, finance, and demographics from NCES — without a composite rating on top. The insights below are computed directly from those datasets; every number traces to a cited source.
Delaware per-pupil spending varies 3.4× across districts
Per-pupil spending in Delaware ranges from $9,658 (lowest district) to $32,837 (highest), a spread of $23,179. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually equalised funding system — most states have wider gaps. High-spending districts typically draw on higher property tax bases, a structural feature of state education finance under the federal Title I framework that sets the floor but not the ceiling.
Delaware operates only 42 school districts — among the most consolidated K-12 governance structures in the country
Most Delaware districts are countywide or multi-county systems. Consolidation produces narrower per-pupil spending variance because resources pool across larger student populations, but it can also mask intra-district inequities — school-by-school differences within a single district are not visible at the state-aggregation level. Consolidated states typically rely more heavily on state-level funding formulas than on local property tax variability.
Average Delaware student-teacher ratio is 14.1:1 — near the U.S. average of approximately 16:1
Student-teacher ratio is the simplest staffing metric reported on NCES Common Core of Data, but it does not capture push-in specialists, intervention staff, English Language Learner aides, special education co-teachers, or counseling and support staff. Variation between districts within the state is wider than the state-average figure suggests — large urban districts may run 20:1 while small rural districts run 10:1, both inside the same average. Class-load comparisons are most meaningful at the district or school level, not the state aggregate.
Data sourced from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25, NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
Using the Delaware data
Delaware's 223 schools sit inside 42 districts — compare at the district level first.
District boundaries decide enrollment: shortlist 2-3 districts on spending, ratio, and size before comparing individual schools. Compare districts →
Check how Delaware distributes money across its districts — funding equity varies more within states than between them. Funding equity →
Verify any school's federal record (enrollment, staffing, CRDC flags) before a visit or enrollment decision. Look up a school →
Figures are the federal record (CCD 2024-25, F-33 FY 2021-22, CRDC 2021-22) — they lag the current school year and describe reported data, not school quality. PlainSchools does not rate or rank schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many public schools are in Delaware?
Delaware has 223 public schools across 42 school districts, serving 140,539 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in Delaware?
The average student-teacher ratio in Delaware public schools is 14.1:1. This varies by district — use the district table below to compare.
What is the largest school district in Delaware?
The largest school district in Delaware is Red Clay Consolidated School District with 14,771 students across 28 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Newark Charter School
3,109
Newark Charter School
3,109 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Newark, DE
Odyssey Charter School
2,286
Odyssey Charter School
2,286 students
73.5% of the leader · rank #2 · Wilmington, DE
Caesar Rodney High Sch…
2,254
Caesar Rodney High School
2,254 students
72.5% of the leader · rank #3 · Camden, DE
Penn (William) High Sc…
2,069
Penn (William) High School
2,069 students
66.5% of the leader · rank #4 · New Castle, DE
Sussex Central High Sc…
2,012
Sussex Central High School
2,012 students
64.7% of the leader · rank #5 · Georgetown, DE
Cape Henlopen High Sch…
1,889
Cape Henlopen High School
1,889 students
60.8% of the leader · rank #6 · Lewes, DE
Dover High School
1,812
Dover High School
1,812 students
58.3% of the leader · rank #7 · Dover, DE
Smyrna High School
1,777
Smyrna High School
1,777 students
57.2% of the leader · rank #8 · Smyrna, DE
What this shows The largest public schools in Delaware by enrollment — often statewide virtual academies or large consolidated campuses, so size here reflects reach, not quality.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD) — Public school universe · 2023-2024 Public K-12 school enrollment, demographics, and operational data; collected annually by NCES from state education agencies.