U.S. public schools had more than 3.6 million instructional staff positions in 2017-18, a slight increase over the previous year, according to statistics from the National Education Association.
The NEA’s Rankings of the States 2017 and Estimates of School Statistics 2018 says that public schools in 2017-18 accounted for 3,642,198 instructional staff positions, an increase of 0.4 percent over the 3,628,753 positions reported in 2016-17.
Despite the slight increase, the most recent total is 0.8 percent less than the 3,671,227 instructional staff positions reported in 2008-09.
The NEA says the instructional staff category includes consultants or supervisors of instruction, principals, teachers, guidance personnel, librarians, and psychological personnel. It does not include administrative staff, attendance personnel, health services personnel, and clerical personnel.
Among the 50 states, schools in Texas employed the greatest number of instructional staff in 2017-18—401,514 positions.
Here are the 10 states that had the greatest number of instructional staff positions in 2017-18.
