Back to School!

Are all your little (and not so little) ones back in school yet? Fall classes at Oregon's major public universities don't start until next Monday (9/30), but the primary and secondary education is in full swing. Here's a bit about education in our state, by the numbers:

Students...
982,675 (nearly one million!) Oregonians age 3 and older were enrolled in school in 2012.
50.7% of Oregon students qualified for free and reduced-price lunch (2010-11).

Teachers...
28,109 full-time equivalent teachers work in Oregon’s public schools (2010-11).
20.3 to 1: Oregon's student-to-teacher ratio (2010-11); nationwide, the average was 16 to 1.
$55,779 is the median annual wage of elementary school teachers in Oregon in 2013. 

Back-to-School Shopping 
Oregon doesn't lack options for back-to-school shopping. In 2012, there were 6,543 family clothing stores; 753 children and infants clothing stores; 2,366 shoe stores; 1,576 office supply and stationery stores; 4,570 sporting goods stores; 1,568 bookstores; and 15,047 department stores.

Education
90% of Oregonians have at least a high school diploma (or equivalent)
30% of Oregonians have a Bachelor's degree or more education

Pssst... to learn more about education in Oregon, read last week's blog post on associate's degrees in Oregon.