St. Louis County, Missouri is divided into 22 regular school districts that vary widely in geographic size and student enrollment, from 668 students in Valley Park to 18,595 students in Rockwood R-6 (2025–26). Student demographics and funding also differ starkly across districts. Lindbergh serves a population that is 2.7% Black, while the student population in Riverview Gardens is 96.5% Black (2024–25). And while Jennings and Clayton both serve just over 2,000 students, Jennings had $8,731 to spend per student in 2024–25, while Clayton spent $24,862. What explains the number of districts and the disparities between them?

There are 23 geographic school districts across St. Louis City and County, and district boundary lines can determine which students have access to educational opportunity in our region. Per pupil spending in 2024–25 ranged from $8,731 per year in Jennings (0.4% White) to $24,862 per year in Clayton (61.2% White). Why this stunning disparity? Past local and federal policies prevented Black families in St. Louis from buying homes and building wealth, and our dependence on local property taxes to fund schools ensures past housing discrimination leaves a legacy today.

Here we report on the percent of students who are scoring at the proficient or advanced levels in ELA and math, for schools serving elementary and middle-grade students.

In this third blog in a four-part series, we examine demographic trends from fall 2019 through fall 2024 across five types of public schools in St. Louis City.

In this second blog of a four-part series, we examine enrollment trends from fall 2020 through fall 2025 across five types of public schools in St. Louis City

In this first blog of a four-part series, we examine average three-year growth scores (from 2022–23, 2023–24, and 2024–25) across four types of public schools in St. Louis City: Saint Louis Public Schools neighborhood schools, SLPS open magnet schools, SLPS selective magnet schools, and public charter schools.

This report, focused on homeschooling in Missouri, found through estimations that of the over one million school-aged children in Missouri, 61,000 (6% of all school-age children) are homeschooled.

This research was presented at the Mapping Spaces, Embodying Territories 2025 Conference at Saint Louis University on April 4, 2025.