Arizona School District Suffers Enrollment Loss as Many Parents Choose Charter Schools
“Arizona became the first state to offer universal school choice for all families in 2022”
This why teacher unions do not want people to have a choice in these matters.
FOX News reports:
Arizona school district takes huge blow to enrollment as parents choose other options
Arizona’s second-largest school district cut staff after losing enrollment due to “competition with charter schools.”
Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) Superintendent Franklin R. Narducci on Wednesday cited declines in enrollment since 2023, a year after lawmakers passed universal school choice to give parents options to choose schools outside of neighborhood public schools.
Narducci further cited several factors driving enrollment loss, including “competition with charter schools,” escalating costs of homeownership and declining birth rates.
CUSD’s governing board on Wednesday voted to cut around 60 positions in administration, among deans and coaching roles.
Lana Berry, chief financial officer for the district, said enrollment dropped to over 4000 students since 2022 and is projected to continue dropping.
After all the staff cuts, CUSD remains the second-largest district in Arizona and the second-largest employer in the East Valley.
“Arizona public school districts are in an unfortunate and critical position due to the state legislature’s historical underfunding of public education,” Chandler Education Association President Laurel Miller reportedly said in an email.
Miller reportedly cited the nearly $3 billion in taxpayer funds allocated to Arizona’s “fraud-ridden” ESA voucher program, which, she claimed, led to “unnecessary enrollment declines — forcing districts to make dire decisions like cutting beloved staff and closing community schools.”
Arizona became the first state to offer universal school choice for all families in 2022, launching an $800 million program that gives parents $7,000 to put toward their children’s tuition. Several other states followed, indicating a trend of parents seeking alternative options to traditional public schools.
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Comments
the dems will just shift their unions to charter schools etc
10…9…8..7..
My teacher friend in Phoenix says a lot of Spanish speaking kids aren’t coming to class. He doesn’t know if they are citizens or. not but his money is on not.
They take excruciatingly great pains NOT to know.
Allowing the consumer to have a choice tends to drive out incompetence. Good on Arizona.
Now, if only there WERE a choice to switch to. Homeschooling is not an option for most folks. The school situation out our way is so unsettled that our local public grammar school lost its bus driver (not the funds, the actual driver) and the parents have had to shuttle their kids both ways since October.