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The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. The level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. National Education Association (NEA) Research offers this report to its state and local affiliates as well as to researchers, policymakers, and the public as a tool to examine public education programs and services. Part I of this report -- Rankings 2023 -- provides state-level data on an array of topics relevant to the complex enterprise of public education. Part II of this report -- Estimates 2024 -- is in its 80th year of production. Estimates provides data tables projecting public school enrollment, employment and compensation of personnel, and finances, as reported by individual state departments of education. Part III of this report -- National Trends 2015-24 -- presents summary data of national trends in student enrollment and attendance, staff salaries, sources of school funding, and levels of educational expenditures in the previous 10 years. [For "Rankings of the States 2022 and Estimates of School Statistics 2023. NEA Research," see ED628838.]

The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Thus, NEA Research offers this report to its state and local affiliates as well as to researchers, policymakers, and the public as a tool to examine public education programs and services. Part I of this report--Rankings 2022--provides state-level data on an array of topics relevant to the complex enterprise of public education. Part II of this report--Estimates 2023--is in its 78th year of production. Estimates provides data tables projecting public school enrollment, employment and compensation of personnel, and finances, as reported by individual state departments of education. The influx of federal funding through COVID relief measures added a new layer of complexity to the development of financial projections. Part III of this report--National Trends 2014-23--presents summary data of national trends in student enrollment and attendance, staff salaries, sources of school funding, and levels of educational expenditures in the previous 10 years. [For "Rankings of the States 2021 and Estimates of School Statistics 2022. NEA Research," see ED620624.]

In this 2023 NEA Special Salary issue, a post-pandemic look at faculty salaries in 2022. What was found, looking at federal data, is that U.S. faculty's purchasing power--that is the value of your salary, considering inflation--is at historical lows. All the gains that were made incrementally since the Great Recession of 2008 have evaporated in pandemic-related inflation. This year's analysis also shows persistent gaps in pay for HBCU faculty and for women, in general, who typically work in the lowest paid ranks in the lowest-paid types of institutions. On the bright side, this issue's Special Salary issue also points to one possible solution. The data shows clearly that faculty represented by unions are paid more. In other words, the solution to low pay can be found in the power of your voices, raised together, in union.

The crisis of teacher shortages across the United States accelerated to a five-alarm fire during the COVID-19 pandemic. Low pay and the gap between teacher pay and that of other similarly educated professionals is one of the primary factors contributing to this shortage. The escalating crisis impacts student learning and the professional status and economic security of teachers, almost three-quarters of whom are women. In this white paper, the National Education Association (NEA) argues the U.S. Department of Labor must use its regulatory authority to raise compensation standards in the teaching profession. The Department can do so by rescinding its antiquated regulation that lumps teachers in with doctors and lawyers as the only professionals who are categorically excluded from the protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. By rescinding the teacher exclusion regulation, the Department of Labor can put a floor under teacher compensation nationwide and ensure that teacher salaries, like those of other professionals, meet the salary test for them to be exempt from overtime pay.

The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States -- with respect to economics, geography, and politics -- the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Thus, NEA Research offers this report to its state and local affiliates as well as to researchers, policymakers, and the public as a tool to examine public education programs and services. Part I of this report -- Rankings 2021 -- provides state-level data on an array of topics relevant to the complex enterprise of public education. Part II of this report -- Estimates 2022 -- is in its 77th year of production. Estimates provides data tables projecting public school enrollment, employment and compensation of personnel, and finances, as reported by individual state departments of education. Part III of this report -- National Trends 2013-22 -- presents summary data of national trends in student enrollment and attendance, staff salaries, sources of school funding, and levels of educational expenditures in the previous 10 years. [For "Rankings of the States 2020 and Estimates of School Statistics 2021. NEA Research," see ED613033.]

Success in reading is essential throughout a student's school career and into adulthood. Recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment shows that approximately one-third of all fourth-grade students are not meeting basic reading standards. When results are broken out by racial and student subgroups, the percentage of African-American and Hispanic children and children with disabilities or living in poverty scoring below basic is higher than other subgroups for a variety of reasons. This presents greater challenges for practitioners at all levels of the educational system. Children scoring below expectations may be at risk of reading difficulty, and regardless of the basis for the difficulties, schools need to provide supports early in a student's career. Interventions designed for students at risk of reading difficulty are helpful to all students. However, modifications in identification, diagnosis, and delivery of services are needed when working with culturally and linguistically diverse students at risk of reading difficulty. Although there is a need to expand research and practitioners' understandings, multiple sources of support and resources can be drawn on to assist struggling readers. Research-based guidance is available to states and localities from a number of sources, including research centers, advocacy organizations, and various agencies of the federal government. [This report was prepared by National Education Association's (NEA's) Center for Enterprise Strategy (CES).]

The well-being and mental health of kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) public school teachers has been a topic of national concern during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, teachers were twice as likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and difficulty coping with their job-related stress than the general population of working adults. Restoring teacher well-being could improve job performance and job satisfaction and boost retention for teachers of all backgrounds. Recent media reports suggest that many districts and schools across the country are implementing new programs -- or expanding existing offerings -- intended to reduce teacher stress and burnout and promote well-being and retention. This report presents selected findings from the 2023 State of the American Teacher survey related to teacher well-being, the availability of mental health and well-being supports, and teachers' intentions to leave their current teaching jobs. The findings in this report are descriptive and intended to inform federal, state, and local education leaders and policymakers about the state of the teacher workforce. [For "State of the American Teacher Survey. 2023 Technical Documentation and Survey Results. American Educator Panels. Research Report. RR-A1108-7," see ED628911.]

This technical report presents information about the sample, content, and administration of the nationally representative 2023 State of the American Teacher (SoT) survey and the American Life Panel (ALP) companion survey. The SoT was completed by 1,439 American Teacher Panel members and the ALP survey was completed by 527 ALP members in January and February 2023. The SoT survey examined teachers' reports on several topics, including well-being (e.g., job-related stress, depression, burnout), compensation and hours worked, working conditions (e.g., mental health and well-being supports, administrator supports), teacher retention, and decisions to exit. The ALP asked similar questions, with wording appropriate to a general audience, to a nationally representative sample of employed adults in the United States. This technical report includes descriptions of survey content, survey administration, survey weighting for the SoT and ALP, and univariate descriptive tables of the SoT and ALP companion surveys.

Principal and teacher well-being is a matter of immediate concern for principals and teachers themselves and for the students they teach. Stress on the job can negatively affect educators' physical health, and poor teacher wellness and mental health are linked with lower-quality student learning environments and with poorer academic and nonacademic student outcomes. Furthermore, previous research suggests that principals and teachers of color are more likely than their White peers to experience poor well-being and are more likely to leave their jobs. Understanding the relationships among teacher and principal well-being, perceived working conditions, and teachers' and principals' intentions to leave their current position is critical for pandemic recovery and for the long-term health of the principal and teacher workforce. In this report, researchers present selected findings from the 2022 State of the American Teacher (SoT) and State of the American Principal (SoP) surveys. These findings are related to teacher and principal well-being, working conditions, and intentions to leave their jobs. The authors focus specifically on the well-being and working conditions of educators of color. [For technical information about the surveys and analysis in this report, see "State of the American Teacher and State of the American Principal Surveys: 2022 Technical Documentation and Survey Results" (ED621137).]

This technical report provides information about the sample, content, and administration of the 2022 State of the American Teacher (SoT) and State of the American Principal (SoP) surveys. The SoT survey was completed by 2,360 American Teacher Panel members, and the SoP survey was completed by 1,540 American School Leader Panel members. The American Life Panel (ALP) companion survey was administered to 500 ALP members in January and February 2022. The report also describes the teacher interview protocols and qualitative methods used for interviews with SoT respondents. The SoT and SoP surveys addressed teachers' and principals' well-being (e.g., job-related stress, depression, burnout), school climate (e.g., physical safety; teacher/principal voice; staff diversity, equity, and inclusion), teachers' and principals' working conditions this school year (e.g., instructional mode; hours worked; coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19] mitigation policies; beliefs about the teaching of race, racism, and bias), and teachers' and principals' careers as educators (e.g., preparation, retention, decisions to exit). Teachers were also asked about policies that they believed would be effective for recruiting, hiring, and retaining educators of color. Principals were also asked a series of questions related to their preparation to address political topics in their schools.