Many of the different Ten Strands and UndauntedK12 initiatives focus on taking environmental and climate action and literacy “to scale” across California’s TK-12 education system. Therefore it is critical to have a clear understanding of the system at all different scales - state, region, county, district, school site, classroom, etc.
Watch this video for a brief overview ↓
Key Questions
Core Questions:
How can California’s TK–12 education system—at the region, county, district, and school levels—inform where and how to take action?
How might enrollment size and geographic distribution shape strategies for driving change and building systems of support for environmental and climate action?
Additional Questions:
Which school districts in California are largest, and in which counties and regions are they located?
How are school districts organized within counties and regions, and how does this structure affect collaboration and support?
What role does enrollment size play in how a district structures its systems of support?
Where are the most likely areas for seeing the largest near-term impacts of these efforts?
State and Regional Overview
This section provides an overview of the findings related to enrollment size, and how an understanding of the enrollment size of any given district (or cluster of districts) might impact strategy when engaging at different scales of change (i.e. district scale, county scale, regional scale, and state scale).
California has the largest number of students and the second largest number of districts (behind Texas) in the United States (Ballotpedia). California school districts vary greatly in regards to enrollment size, with a range of districts that have less than 1,000 students to districts that have over 400,000 students. The table above is based on 2024-25 enrollment data for CA school districts and groups districts into general size categories ranging from extremely large to extremely small. The purpose of displaying data in this format is to support an understanding of 'scale' and to acknowledge that the term "school district" will look very different depending on a number of factors that also includes enrollment size.
To explore more data related to the number of districts in California visit the CDE Finger Tip Facts on Education in California - this data includes the number of districts that are unified, elementary, or union high school, and also includes the number of schools by type.
The data in the graph above shows the number of school districts along the X-axis, and cumulative percent (%) of student enrollment up the Y-axis. Note that the percent (%) numbers in red show what cumulative percentage (%) of CA students are reached by the corresponding number of districts:
Large and Medium urban and suburban school districts contain a significant portion of CA students:
78 districts (8% of all CA districts) = approximately 50% of student enrollment
234 districts (25% of all CA districts) = approximately 80% of student enrollment
Small to very small suburban and rural school districts make up the other 20% of enrollment spread across 704 school districts
*The color scale of the map has been adjusted to more obviously show the difference in color between the counties.
The map above shows the 2024-25 Census Day Enrollment data broken down by county. These data points include the number of districts and school sites within each county and can be viewed by hovering your mouse over a county on the interactive map.
Using this map, we can see that Southern California is generally more densely populated than the rest of the state. Of particular note is Los Angeles County which has a significantly higher number of students than the rest of the state, serving approximately 1,275,769 students or around 21.97% of all K-12 students in California.
There are eleven CA County Superintendent Regions which are primarily used by the CA County Superintendents (CCS - formerly CCESSA) and the staff that support them, including the Curricular and Improvement Support Committees (CISC).
When broken down by region, we can see that regions 9, 10, and 11 serve over 50% of the students in the state, with region 11 (comprised of only one county -- Los Angeles) serving almost a quarter of the students in the state.
The state is also divided into seven regions led by Geographic Lead Agencies. These regions are often used when determining grant allocations for the state.
When divided using the Geographic Regions, we see that the two most southern regions serve approximately 63% of the students in the state.
Overview: The graph above illustrates county size and scale by land area (sq. miles), population (2024 Census estimations), and urban (grey) vs. rural (green) designation (2020 Census). Bubble size reflects the selected scale type, and the y-axis shows the number of school districts per county. This visual highlights the need for tailored strategies based on a county's urban or rural characteristics and size.
The U.S. Census Bureau defines rural and urban areas on the basis of population size and density. To qualify as an urban area, the territory identified according to criteria must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or have a population of at least 5,000. The following from the U.S. Census Bureau also includes more specific nuances to distinguish between the terms:
Urbanized areas contain a population of 50,000 or more. They may or may not contain any individual cities of 50,000 or more. In general, they must have a core with a population density of at least 1,000 persons per square mile and may contain adjoining territory with at least 500 persons per square mile.
Urban clusters (suburban areas) have at least 2,500 people but fewer than 50,000 residents. In general, they must also have a core with a population density of 1,000 persons per square mile and may contain adjoining territory with at least 500 persons per square mile.
Rural (nonmetro) areas consist of open countryside with population densities less than 500 people per square mile, and places with fewer than 2,500 people.
The map below shows the locale classification of each of California's TK-12 Public School Districts as defined by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The bar graphs to the right show the total number of districts for each locale classification (top) and the total student enrollment for all districts within each locale classification (bottom).
Findings: In general, rural counties tend to have a lower count of districts than urban counties. Many rural counties contain approximately 10 districts or even fewer. However, there are more rural districts overall than any other locale classification. While rural counties may cover a larger geographic area than some urban counties, they have much smaller populations. Urban and suburban districts enroll the vast majority of students in the state.
A shared goal of the founding partners of this data initiative is to have all students throughout California have access to high quality environmental literacy and sustainable and climate resilient infrastructure. Below are some takeaways from this data set that connect to this goal.
Takeaway 1: For educators, policy makers, and advocates working at the state level, it is clear that different approaches are going to be needed to work with school districts that differ dramatically in enrollment size.
Takeaway 2: Focusing on different areas of the state to provide proof of concept and then scaling strategies that work best for districts, counties, and regions of a similar size could help scale efforts statewide more easily.
County, District, and Site Level Data
This section allows local educators, such as those at the county or district level, to drill down into the enrollment data to determine the trends in their areas of influence. The aim of this section is to provide the more specific data needed to identify local starting points for this work.
How to use the interactive data tools ↓
Scale Walkthrough.webmThe interactive visualization below allows the 2024-25 Census Day Enrollment data to be viewed in different ways, allowing the user to drill down and look for trends.
Directions for use:
Use the tabs along the top to select which data you would like to view (regional level, county level, district level, demographic breakdowns, or grade level breakdowns)
Once on the correct tab, use the filters (starting with the top-most filter) to select the correct data for your desired area
*If you have any questions or concerns about the interactive visualization, please contact swhiting@tenstrands.org
The regions, counties, and districts in California have diverse enrollment and contexts. At the local level it may be helpful for districts within different counties and regions to better understand the size and scale of their neighboring districts.
While enrollment and geographic data can be useful in making decisions about impact and strategies, there are many other factors to consider when looking for entry points or equitable solutions to going to scale. Some additional factors to consider are included in other data sets on this initiative and briefly outlined below:
More traditional education equity data such as % of unduplicated students, English Language Learners, Expense ADA, etc. Another factor that is not always considered, but should be for environmental sustainability is local pollution burden. These indicators are included in this data project in the statewide equity analysis.
These are the indicators that show environmental and climate commitments within the broader municipal and county jurisdiction areas.
These indicators paint a picture of what investments are being made at the district level for environmental initiatives and staffing to coordinate these initiatives.
