Occasionally I run across educational statistics that make no sense to me. So it is with an Education Intelligence Agency chart that ostensibly shows changes in the number of public school students and teachers by state between the 2001-02 academic year and the 2006-07 academic year. According to notes, the relevant data come from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.
The state with the starkest negative change is West Virginia, which had a .3 percent decrease in students, but a 20.5 percent decrease in teachers. How can that be?
I can only assume it has something to do with school consolidation. That may be a dumb guess, though. Won’t be the first time…and fear not, won’t be the last.