Washington, DC’s public-school data shows a system serving about 48,000 to 52,000 DCPS students, with substantial student-support needs and clear differences across attendance, assessment and graduation measures. The figures below distinguish DCPS-only statistics from District-wide public-school measures and retain each source’s school year or measurement period.
Table of contents
- DCPS enrollment and system scale
- Student demographics and educational needs
- Attendance, absenteeism and truancy
- State assessment performance
- Graduation outcomes over time
- Educator workforce and compensation
DCPS enrollment and system scale
DC Public Schools (DCPS) enrollment reached 48,144 students in SY 2017-18 and 49,056 in SY 2018-19. Enrollment then rose to 51,036 in SY 2019-20 before declining to 49,890 in SY 2020-21 and 49,035 in SY 2021-22. It increased again to 50,131 in SY 2022-23, 51,293 in SY 2023-24 and 52,030 in SY 2024-25. The latest value on the enrollment source is 51,528 students in SY 2025-26.
| School year | DCPS enrollment |
|---|---|
| SY 2017-18 | 48,144 |
| SY 2018-19 | 49,056 |
| SY 2019-20 | 51,036 |
| SY 2020-21 | 49,890 |
| SY 2021-22 | 49,035 |
| SY 2022-23 | 50,131 |
| SY 2023-24 | 51,293 |
| SY 2024-25 | 52,030 |
| SY 2025-26 | 51,528 |
DCPS operated 117 schools in SY 2025-26. These enrollment and school-count figures are DCPS-only, rather than totals for every public-school option in the District. The source identifies the SY 2025-26 figures as the latest values available on its enrollment page.
Source: DCPS at a Glance: Enrollment.
Student demographics and educational needs
The SY 2025-26 DCPS enrollment profile was 54% Black students, 22% Hispanic students, 18% White students, 4% students identifying as two or more races, and 2% Asian students. Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students represented less than 1% of enrollment, as did American Indian or Alaska Native students. These percentages describe the racial and ethnic composition reported by DCPS for that school year.
Support-related measures describe another important part of the student population. Students in special education represented 17% of DCPS enrollment in SY 2025-26. English learners represented 15%, while at-risk students represented 43%. These categories can overlap; the figures should therefore be read as separate reported shares, not added together as mutually exclusive groups.
The combination of a 43% at-risk share, a 17% special-education share and a 15% English-learner share indicates why enrollment totals alone do not describe the scale or complexity of educational needs. The figures are still DCPS-specific and should not be treated as District-wide shares for all public schools.
Source: DCPS at a Glance: Enrollment.
Attendance, absenteeism and truancy
Attendance statistics use different measures and populations, so chronic absenteeism, chronic truancy and in-seat attendance are not interchangeable. District-wide chronic absenteeism was 43.1% in SY 2022-23 and 39.2% in SY 2023-24. District-wide chronic truancy was 36.9% in SY 2022-23 and 30.3% in SY 2023-24.
The DCPS-specific 2024-25 attendance report recorded 87.2% in-seat attendance, 35.0% truancy and 38.2% chronic absence. In SY 2023-24, the same DCPS reporting source recorded 87.4% in-seat attendance. The reported attendance change between those two DCPS years is small, while the measures for absence and truancy describe different attendance conditions.
| Measure | Earlier period | Later period |
|---|---|---|
| District-wide chronic absenteeism | 43.1% (SY 2022-23) | 39.2% (SY 2023-24) |
| District-wide chronic truancy | 36.9% (SY 2022-23) | 30.3% (SY 2023-24) |
| DCPS in-seat attendance | 87.4% (SY 2023-24) | 87.2% (SY 2024-25) |
DCPS also reported that a truancy-referral pilot referred 304 students in its first year, in SY 2024-25. Because the District-wide figures come from OSSE reporting while the in-seat, truancy and chronic-absence figures come from DCPS reporting, the source scope and definitions should remain attached to each comparison.
Sources: Bowser Administration Announces Continued Improvement in School Attendance for DC Students and 2024-25 DCPS Attendance Report.
State assessment performance
In spring 2024, 34.0% of District students met or exceeded expectations in English language arts (ELA), while 22.8% met or exceeded expectations in math. In this assessment reporting, proficiency means meeting or exceeding expectations at levels 4-5. The participation rate was 95.9% of eligible students for ELA and 95.9% for math.
ELA performance varied by grade band. Among students in grades 3-5, 32.3% met or exceeded expectations. The share was 36.3% in grades 6-8 and 33.2% in grades 9-12. Math performance was 28.4% in grades 3-5, 22.2% in grades 6-8 and 11.2% in grades 9-12.
| Grade band | ELA meeting/exceeding expectations | Math meeting/exceeding expectations |
|---|---|---|
| Grades 3-5 | 32.3% | 28.4% |
| Grades 6-8 | 36.3% | 22.2% |
| Grades 9-12 | 33.2% | 11.2% |
The assessment results are District-wide measures reported for spring 2024, not a DCPS-only enrollment statistic. They also measure performance against expectations rather than the percentage of students receiving any passing grade in a classroom.
Source: DC Releases 2024 Statewide Assessment Results.
Graduation outcomes over time
The District-wide four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate was 65.4% in SY 2014-15 and 69.2% in SY 2015-16. It reached 72.4% in SY 2016-17, then was 68.5% in SY 2017-18 and 68.2% in SY 2018-19. The rate rose to 70.9% in SY 2019-20, 72.6% in SY 2020-21 and 74.9% in SY 2021-22.
The reported rate was 76.1% in SY 2022-23 and remained 76.1% in SY 2023-24. This is an adjusted cohort measure over four years, so it should not be confused with the share of all enrolled students who graduate in a single calendar year. The figures also describe District-wide public-school outcomes rather than the DCPS enrollment series above.
| School year | Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate |
|---|---|
| SY 2014-15 | 65.4% |
| SY 2015-16 | 69.2% |
| SY 2016-17 | 72.4% |
| SY 2017-18 | 68.5% |
| SY 2018-19 | 68.2% |
| SY 2019-20 | 70.9% |
| SY 2020-21 | 72.6% |
| SY 2021-22 | 74.9% |
| SY 2022-23 | 76.1% |
| SY 2023-24 | 76.1% |
Source: OSSE Releases the 2024 DC School Report Card.
Educator workforce and compensation
DCPS reported 4,733 teachers across the district in 2024, along with 323 principals, assistant principals and resident principals. Female educators represented 74% of DCPS teachers and male educators 26%. Among school leaders, 70% were female and 30% were male.
Retention figures for SY 2023-24 were 95% for effective and highly effective teachers and 97% for effective and highly effective principals. These are retention rates for the specified performance groups, not retention rates for every employee in the system.
Average actual salary differed by appointment length in 2024. The average actual salary for a 10-month DCPS teacher was $103,445, while the average actual salary for a 12-month DCPS teacher was $120,485. The source labels these as average actual salaries; they are not presented here as starting salaries, median salaries or forecasts.
Source: DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS FAST FACTS 2024.
Several distinctions are important when these statistics are read together. The enrollment and student-profile figures are DCPS-only, while the attendance announcement, assessment results and graduation rates include District-wide public-school measures. A District-wide result therefore cannot be substituted for a DCPS result simply because both concern Washington, DC. The source periods also differ: enrollment and attendance are mainly reported by school year, assessment performance is measured in spring 2024, and workforce headcounts and salary averages are reported for 2024.
The figures describe different stages of the education system. Enrollment and school count describe system scale; demographic and support shares describe the students served; attendance measures describe participation in school; assessments describe meeting or exceeding expectations; and the adjusted cohort rate describes graduation within four years. None of these measures alone represents overall school quality or explains why a result changed. The supplied attendance notes specifically distinguish chronic absenteeism from truancy, and the assessment source defines proficiency as meeting or exceeding expectations at levels 4-5.
The educator data also has a defined scope. The 4,733 teachers and 323 principals, assistant principals and resident principals are 2024 workforce counts. The 95% and 97% retention figures apply only to effective and highly effective teachers and principals in SY 2023-24. The two salary figures are average actual salaries for 10-month and 12-month teachers, respectively, rather than forecasts or measures of every teacher’s pay. Keeping those labels attached prevents comparisons that the sources do not support.