By the numbers: How schools struggled during the pandemic

One major challenge: staff shortages

The survey found that shortages of key school personnel were common during the 2020-2021 school year – an issue that has persisted even after the height of the pandemic.

In the 2020-2021 year, more than a quarter of schools employed uncertified teachers and 24 percent had no counselors.

And of the nation’s 49 million public school students, nearly 1.7 million attended a school with a police officer or security guard but without a school counselor, a statistic that Miguel Cardona, the U.S. Secretary of Education, highlighted Wednesday. Black, Native American, and multiracial students were more likely than white students to attend these schools.

The pandemic has increased the need for highly qualified teachers and health professionals in schools. Students emerged from the lockdown era academically behind and with high levels of anxiety and other mental health issues.

Even in a hybrid year, many Pre-K suspensions

Discipline rates decreased in the 2020-2021 school year. But federal officials cautioned that these numbers should not be compared to previous data because physical school buildings were largely partially or completely closed.

Yet the harsh discipline and racial differences have not disappeared, even at the youngest ages.

Nearly 1,000 toddlers were suspended. Although black children make up 17 percent of the pre-K population, they accounted for 31 percent of those receiving out-of-school suspensions.

There were also significant racial disparities in access to advanced courses, a priority for the Biden administration.

High schools with many black and Latino students were less likely than other high schools to offer math and computer science.

And 39 percent of all public high schools did not offer algebra, which can prevent students from gaining access to advanced math in later grades.

“We have been fighting Covid for years,” Mr. Cardona said. “Now we must fight complacency.”