Numbers Paint Picture of Schools

Buried in the year-end avalanche of reports on education, there are nuggets of helpful information about what’s going on in schools and colleges nationwide, as well as in the work force. Here are some statistical gems I mined from reports by federal agencies and other sources.

For example, let’s compare California to the other 49 states and the District of Columbia.

California has the second-highest number of classroom teachers (217,228) right behind Texas, which has 219,298.

But we still have the second-highest student-teacher ratio: 22.8 students per teacher. The national average is 17.2 to 1, and Utah’s is highest, at 25 to 1.

The average California teacher makes $39,598 annually, the nation’s third-highest teacher salary. The national average is $32,977; Connecticut teachers make the most ($43,808).

Given those rankings, you may be surprised to learn that California drops to 32nd in the amount of government money typically spent per pupil. Although the national average is $4,960 per student and the District of Columbia is No. 1 at $8,904, our spending is just $4,391.

Our state’s dropout rate is comparably decent: We’re 10th. Louisiana has the highest state dropout rate, and Vermont has the lowest.

As public libraries go, Los Angeles has reason to be proud. L.A. has 62 public libraries--more than any other city--and offers almost 6 million bound volumes for your reading pleasure.