Who are the nation’s 4 million teachers?

As the school year continues amid a third wave of COVID-19 cases, the role of teachers has taken center stage. But who are teachers? The latest demographic information from the National Center for Education Statistics is from the 2017-2018 school year — which offers insight into educator demographics prior to the onset of the pandemic. That year, there were 3.5 million full and part-time public school teachers and around half a million private school teachers.

Most teachers are women, especially in elementary schools.