Many people have become distrustful of public schools, particularly since the pandemic.
FOX News reports:
Public school enrollment declining in America’s most populous cities: ReportPublic school enrollment is declining in America’s most populous cities, but despite the dip in attendance, school spending has increased in many urban districts, according to a report. Experts warn the disparity will have major implications for education policy.Between 2013 and 2022, nationwide enrollment decreased by 2% from 49.9 million to 48.8 million, falling to some of the lowest points in decades, according to a report the Manhattan Institute published Thursday. Senior fellow Daniel DiSalvo and economic policy analyst Reade Ben found that even though enrollment numbers have declined, school districts have yet to adjust their staffing and budgeting to the reality of fewer students.”Declining enrollment does not speak well to the level of confidence in large, urban-area public school systems,” Ben told Fox News Digital.New York, Illinois and California faced the largest student enrollment declines while Texas and Arizona saw the largest increases, according to the report. Texas is expected to surpass California for the most public school students, but even the Lone Star State’s four biggest cities, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and Austin, have seen slight declines over the last decade.The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the enrollment decline, but the report primarily attributes the declining public school population to the increasing popularity of private schools, charter schools and homeschooling.”Many parents have opted to send their children to private or charter schools,” Ben said. “As spending decreases and confidence declines, an important question must be asked: will throwing more money at a problem make it go away?”
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