Book excerpt: This publication provides basic descriptive information about the 100 largest school districts in the United States and its outlying areas. The information was provided by state education agencies about student membership, revenues, and expenditures. The 100 largest districts, representing fewer than 1% of the nation's school districts, serve about 23% of public school students and employ about 23% of public school teachers. Almost all of these districts encompass large cities, but only about half are confined to city limits. One-third of these districts are found in Florida, Texas, and California; and more than half of these large districts have minority enrollment of over 50%. In addition, schools in the 100 largest districts tend to be about 38% larger than the average American school. Information on school and student characteristics and school finances is presented in 10 basic tables. Three text tables establish a meaningful context for the information on the 100 school districts. Appendixes list the 500 largest school districts, and an alphabetical list of the 500 districts. (SLD)