Sources & geography · K-12 education statistics
Local education agency(LEA)
The administrative unit that operates public schools — usually, but not always, a school district.
A local education agency is the body legally responsible for operating public schools in an area. In most of the country that is a conventional school district, but the category also covers charter authorisers, independent charter schools, regional service agencies and state-operated schools.
Because LEA boundaries follow administrative rather than geographic logic, they do not nest cleanly into counties: a district can cross a county line, and a county can contain dozens of LEAs of very different kinds. County-level education figures are therefore aggregations across LEAs whose boundaries only approximate the county, which is worth stating whenever such figures are compared to other county data.
Also known as: LEA, school district.
See local education agency in the data
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Local education agency — FAQ
What is local education agency in school and district data?+
The administrative unit that operates public schools — usually, but not always, a school district. A local education agency is the body legally responsible for operating public schools in an area. In most of the country that is a conventional school district, but the category also covers charter authorisers, independent charter schools, regional service agencies and state-operated schools.
Why does local education agency matter?+
Because LEA boundaries follow administrative rather than geographic logic, they do not nest cleanly into counties: a district can cross a county line, and a county can contain dozens of LEAs of very different kinds. County-level education figures are therefore aggregations across LEAs whose boundaries only approximate the county, which is worth stating whenever such figures are compared to other county data.
Where does this school and district data come from?+
Core statistics come from the National Center for Education Statistics — the Common Core of Data, EDFacts, and the Civil Rights Data Collection. The most recent graduation rates and state report-card outcomes come directly from state education agencies, which publish sooner than the federal series. pumsdata is independent and not affiliated with NCES or any state agency.