Delaware Education Statistics 2026: Schools, Enrollment & Spending
Delaware reported 141,307 public school students in its 2025–26 unit count, including students at 19 districts, 24 charter LEAs, and Dover Air Force Base.
NCES recorded 234 operating public schools and 9,909 teacher FTEs in 2023–24. Census data place FY2024 current spending at $22,201 per pupil.
Delaware Education Snapshot
Each statistic retains the reporting period used by its official source.
Delaware and U.S. Current Spending per Pupil
Public pre-K–12 operating expenditures, FY2023 and FY2024
Current spending excludes capital outlay, debt service, and non-elementary-secondary programs. Values are not adjusted for inflation or regional prices.
Data analysis
- Delaware current spending rose from $21,340 in FY2023 to $22,201 in FY2024.
- The corresponding U.S. figure increased from $16,526 to $17,619.
- Delaware’s nominal increase was $861, or 4.0%.
- The Delaware-U.S. difference narrowed from $4,814 to $4,582 per pupil.
- Delaware ranked ninth among the 50 states and District of Columbia in FY2024, or eighth when District of Columbia is excluded.
Public Enrollment by Delaware LEA
The 2025–26 unit count separates regular enrollment from the state’s special education funding categories.
| Rank | LEA | Type | Total | Regular | Special | Special share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Red Clay Consolidated School District | District | 14,335 | 11,179 | 3,156 | 22.0% |
| 2 | Appoquinimink School District | District | 12,958 | 10,808 | 2,150 | 16.6% |
| 3 | Christina School District | District | 12,799 | 9,234 | 3,565 | 27.9% |
| 4 | Indian River School District | District | 10,620 | 8,630 | 1,990 | 18.7% |
| 5 | Brandywine School District | District | 10,070 | 7,892 | 2,178 | 21.6% |
| 6 | Colonial School District | District | 8,273 | 6,115 | 2,158 | 26.1% |
| 7 | Caesar Rodney School District | District | 7,868 | 6,414 | 1,454 | 18.5% |
| 8 | Cape Henlopen School District | District | 6,731 | 5,458 | 1,273 | 18.9% |
| 9 | Capital School District | District | 6,384 | 4,981 | 1,403 | 22.0% |
| 10 | Smyrna School District | District | 5,721 | 4,646 | 1,075 | 18.8% |
| 11 | New Castle County Vocational-Technical School District | District | 4,938 | 4,307 | 631 | 12.8% |
| 12 | Milford School District | District | 4,514 | 3,764 | 750 | 16.6% |
| 13 | Lake Forest School District | District | 3,764 | 3,003 | 761 | 20.2% |
| 14 | Seaford School District | District | 3,631 | 3,042 | 589 | 16.2% |
| 15 | Newark Charter School | Charter | 3,156 | 2,826 | 330 | 10.5% |
| 16 | Woodbridge School District | District | 2,603 | 2,045 | 558 | 21.4% |
| 17 | Laurel School District | District | 2,499 | 2,065 | 434 | 17.4% |
| 18 | Odyssey Charter School | Charter | 2,402 | 2,069 | 333 | 13.9% |
| 19 | Las Americas Aspira Academy | Charter | 1,476 | 1,199 | 277 | 18.8% |
| 20 | Delmar School District | District | 1,471 | 1,325 | 146 | 9.9% |
| 21 | MOT Charter School | Charter | 1,390 | 1,259 | 131 | 9.4% |
| 22 | Sussex Technical School District | District | 1,349 | 1,170 | 179 | 13.3% |
| 23 | Polytech School District | District | 1,252 | 1,084 | 168 | 13.4% |
| 24 | Sussex Academy | Charter | 1,190 | 1,087 | 103 | 8.7% |
| 25 | Charter School of Wilmington | Charter | 980 | 966 | 14 | 1.4% |
| 26 | Academia Antonia Alonso | Charter | 923 | 849 | 74 | 8.0% |
| 27 | Providence Creek Academy Charter School | Charter | 786 | 674 | 112 | 14.2% |
| 28 | Charter School of New Castle | Charter | 759 | 679 | 80 | 10.5% |
| 29 | First State Montessori Academy | Charter | 648 | 558 | 90 | 13.9% |
| 30 | Early College High School at Delaware State | Charter | 597 | 536 | 61 | 10.2% |
| 31 | Kuumba Academy Charter School | Charter | 556 | 465 | 91 | 16.4% |
| 32 | Delaware Military Academy | Charter | 555 | 501 | 54 | 9.7% |
| 33 | Edison (Thomas A.) Charter School | Charter | 538 | 453 | 85 | 15.8% |
| 34 | Dover Air Force Base | Federal enclave | 477 | 393 | 84 | 17.6% |
| 35 | East Side Charter School | Charter | 460 | 372 | 88 | 19.1% |
| 36 | Academy of Dover Charter School | Charter | 454 | 364 | 90 | 19.8% |
| 37 | First State Military Academy | Charter | 424 | 340 | 84 | 19.8% |
| 38 | Campus Community School | Charter | 402 | 348 | 54 | 13.4% |
| 39 | Sussex Montessori School | Charter | 392 | 351 | 41 | 10.5% |
| 40 | Freire Charter School Wilmington | Charter | 370 | 257 | 113 | 30.5% |
| 41 | Gateway Charter School | Charter | 211 | 125 | 86 | 40.8% |
| 42 | Great Oaks Charter School | Charter | 141 | 80 | 61 | 43.3% |
| 43 | Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence | Charter | 123 | 84 | 39 | 31.7% |
| 44 | Positive Outcomes Charter School | Charter | 117 | 50 | 67 | 57.3% |
Data analysis
- The 44 reporting entities account for 141,307 students.
- Nineteen school districts enroll 121,780 students, or 86.2% of the total.
- Twenty-four charter LEAs enroll 19,050 students, or 13.5%.
- Dover Air Force Base accounts for the remaining 477 students.
- Red Clay is the largest reporting LEA with 14,335 students.
- Red Clay, Appoquinimink, and Christina together enroll 40,092 students, or 28.4% of the statewide count.
- The state total contains 114,047 regular-category students and 27,260 students in special education funding categories.
- Special-category shares vary with LEA grade coverage, program assignment, and specialized services.
Ten Largest Delaware LEAs by Enrollment
DDOE 2025–26 unit count
The chart is a visual summary of the complete 44-entity enrollment table.
Data analysis
- All ten largest reporting entities are traditional school districts.
- Red Clay exceeds Appoquinimink by 1,377 students.
- Only five reporting entities have enrollment above 10,000.
- The tenth-largest district, Smyrna, reports 5,721 students.
Public School and Staffing Structure
NCES CCD final data provide a consistent 2023–24 school, district, enrollment, and staffing cross-section.
| Indicator | Delaware | U.S. | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating public schools | 234 | 99,297 | 2023–24 |
| Operating districts | 45 | 19,186 | 2023–24 |
| Student membership | 141,842 | 49,404,386 | 2023–24 |
| Teacher FTE | 9,909 | 3,253,091 | 2023–24 |
| Pupil-teacher ratio | 14.3 | 15.2 | 2023–24 |
Data analysis
- Delaware’s 14.3 pupil-teacher ratio was 0.9 student below the U.S. ratio.
- Average membership equaled about 606 students per operating school.
- NCES membership differs from the DDOE unit count because the sources use different reporting specifications and years.
Delaware Nonpublic Enrollment Context
DDOE 2024–25 reporting covers registered private schools and homeschools.
| Nonpublic type | Registered schools | Delaware students | All students |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-family homeschool | 2,323 | 3,920 | 3,920 |
| Multi-family homeschool | 41 | 294 | 326 |
| Private school | 89 | 11,436 | 13,325 |
| Total | 2,453 | 15,650 | 17,571 |
Data analysis
- Private schools report 11,436 Delaware-resident students.
- Registered homeschools report 4,214 Delaware students across single-family and multi-family settings.
- “Registered schools” includes individual registered homeschool entities and is not comparable with the NCES count of operating public schools.
What the Delaware Data Shows
Enrollment, staffing, and finance values describe different parts of the education system.
Enrollment concentration
The five largest LEAs enroll 60,782 students, equal to 43.0% of the 2025–26 unit count.
Charter scale
Charter LEAs range from 117 to 3,156 students. Enrollment size does not describe grade span or program specialization.
Staffing measure
The pupil-teacher ratio uses teacher full-time equivalents. It is not an average classroom size measure.
Spending measure
Current spending represents operating costs. Construction, land, major equipment, and debt service are excluded.
Price differences
The $22,201 Delaware figure is nominal. The Census ranking does not adjust for inflation or regional cost levels.
Reporting periods
School-year enrollment and staffing statistics should not be treated as if they were collected for the same period as fiscal-year spending.
Source and Methodology
2025–26 public enrollment
Delaware Department of Education, Student Enrollment and Unit Allotment. The count includes students enrolled and attending during the state unit-count period.
Schools, districts, and staffing
National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data Table 2, 2023–24. Teacher counts are full-time equivalents.
FY2024 finance data
U.S. Census Bureau, 2024 Public Elementary-Secondary Education Finance Data.
Spending comparison
U.S. Census Bureau, FY2024 current spending per pupil visualization and the corresponding FY2023 release.
Nonpublic enrollment
Delaware Department of Education, Nonpublic Schools and Enrollment, 2024–25.
Rounding
Counts are displayed as whole students or FTEs. Percentages are calculated from unrounded counts and shown to one decimal place.
The DDOE unit-count table was ranked by total regular and special-category enrollment. The statewide total of 141,307 includes 477 students reported for Dover Air Force Base; the DDOE total excluding that entity is 140,830. Census spending values are current expenditures divided by the survey’s fall enrollment measure.
Enrollment, school counts, teacher FTEs, and spending come from separate collections with different reference periods. Spending rank reflects only nominal current spending per pupil and does not measure school quality, student need, capital investment, or education outcomes.