District of Columbia runs 243 public schools across 71 districts, with a 11.8:1 average classroom and — of students on subsidized lunch.
243
public schools
71
school districts
11.8:1
avg student–teacher
—
free/reduced lunch
What the NCES Data Says About District of Columbia Schools
District of Columbia operates 243 public K-12 schools organised into 71 independent school districts serving 93,368 students, per the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data 2024-25. The largest district, District of Columbia Public Schools, enrolls 50,131 pupils across 116 schools at $27,425 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 11.8:1, 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.
District of Columbia's average class size vs. every US state
Average students per teacher, state by state (lower means smaller classes)
12Among the smallest classessmaller classes than 88% 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.
District of Columbia Public Schools accounts for 53.7% of all District of Columbia K-12 enrollment
That concentration — well above the 8.4% national median for largest-district share — means state-level averages can mask substantial variation outside the dominant district. District of Columbia Public Schools operates 116 schools serving 50,131 students, spending $27,425 per pupil. When one district dominates a state's K-12 footprint, its programmatic and budget decisions effectively set policy for a majority of the state's students.
District of Columbia per-pupil spending varies 4.6× across districts
Per-pupil spending in District of Columbia ranges from $20,202 (lowest district) to $92,820 (highest), a spread of $72,618. That spread reflects typical state-level variation between high-property-value suburbs and rural or low-tax-base districts. 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.
District of Columbia operates only 71 school districts — among the most consolidated K-12 governance structures in the country
Most District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia student-teacher ratio is 11.8:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or state-funded class-size reduction)
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. Lower ratios in this state often correlate with smaller per-school enrollments and rural geography rather than higher staffing budgets per se. 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 District of Columbia data
District of Columbia's 243 schools sit inside 71 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 District of Columbia 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 District of Columbia?
District of Columbia has 243 public schools across 71 school districts, serving 93,368 students.
What is the average student-teacher ratio in District of Columbia?
The average student-teacher ratio in District of Columbia public schools is 11.8:1. This varies by district — use the district table below to compare.
What is the largest school district in District of Columbia?
The largest school district in District of Columbia is District of Columbia Public Schools with 50,131 students across 116 schools.
Largest K-12 public schools by total students enrolled
students
Jackson-Reed Hs
1,855
Jackson-Reed Hs
1,855 students
100.0% of the leader · rank #1 · Washington, DC
District of Columbia I…
1,654
District of Columbia International School
1,654 students
89.2% of the leader · rank #2 · Washington, DC
Columbia Heights Educa…
1,563
Columbia Heights Education Campus
1,563 students
84.3% of the leader · rank #3 · Washington, DC
Deal Ms
1,462
Deal Ms
1,462 students
78.8% of the leader · rank #4 · Washington, DC
Coolidge Hs
1,029
Coolidge Hs
1,029 students
55.5% of the leader · rank #5 · Washington, DC
Roosevelt Hs
943
Roosevelt Hs
943 students
50.8% of the leader · rank #6 · Washington, DC
Lafayette Es
923
Lafayette Es
923 students
49.8% of the leader · rank #7 · Washington, DC
Eastern Hs
909
Eastern Hs
909 students
49.0% of the leader · rank #8 · Washington, DC
What this shows The largest public schools in District of Columbia 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.