Local School Districts Across U.S. See "Historic" Decline in Enrollment
Local School Districts across the United States saw a "historic" decline in enrollment continue to become an epidemic in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to NPR, the rate of public school enrollment dropped by three percent in 2019-2020 nationwide, erasing a decade of slow gains.
KENS 5 noted that area enrollment dropped by as many as 15,000 students from 2018-2021.
Local School Districts Record Enrollment Decline
According to the latest headcount from more than 600 districts in 23 states and Washington D.C., few local schools districts, including the larger ones, have returned to their enrollment rate when the pandemic has not yet occurred. Most school districts post a second straight year of declines in their enrollment.
"There's a lot of concern right now," Chicago Schools Chief Pedro Martinez said. "Pre pandemic, we're already seeing enrollment decline. So it wasn't that we had stability. What happened during COVID-19, we just saw an increase in the number that didn't come," Martinez added.
Some school districts that posted "historic" enrollment decline are the school districts located in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
In Los Angeles, the student population diminished by 17,900 students last school year and this year; New York and Chicago school enrollments dropped by 58,000 and 24,000, respectively, in the past two school years.
Alex Vardell, the director of research from the North East Independent School District (ISD), said that the decline in enrollment is affecting their funding and ability to staff.
The Urban Institute also noted that the decline in enrollment could affect every public school's funding.
"Most of the money for K-12 education comes from state and local sources. Through local funding is based primarily on taxes, state funding is typically allocated through a formula that considers, among other factors, the number of students enrolled in each district," Urban Institute noted.
Cause of Enrollment Decline Among School Districts
According to educators and researchers, there were various reasons for a continuous decline in enrollment among school districts.
The experts noted that an increase in homeschooling and a shift to private schools play a role. Furthermore, another year of delays in entering the kindergarten is also a factor in the decline.
"We think we found most of them, but there are still probably a thousand kids out there, we just don't know what happened to them," Dallas Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said.
Meanwhile, Independent School Districts said that another factor for the enrollment decline is the pandemic.
"Like many districts across the country, NISD has also seen a fluctuation in enrollment as a result of the pandemic," a Northside ISD spokesperson said.
A Harlendale ISD spokesperson added that students moving out of the city, state, or even country also play a role in the fluctuation. Furthermore, other students are still at home while others moved to other schools.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written By: Joshua Summers
WATCH: After Enrollment Declines, Schools Need Kids Back to Avoid Budget Cuts - From Wall Street Journal
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