US schools resumed face-to-face learning last year, but enrollment in public schools across the country has failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels and, in some cases, has continued to decline.
About 1.2 million students have dropped out of U.S. public schools since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to recent national survey. Schools in the country's urban centers – such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago – have been particularly hard hit. In Los Angeles, enrollment in non-charter public schools dropped by nearly 50,000 between the 2019-2020 school year and the 2021-2022 school year, according to California Department of Education. Enrollment in Boston Public Schools has decreased by approximately 8.5% since October 2019, a decrease of approximately 4,300 students.
In the US, declining enrollment has a particular impact on public schools, as enrollment is directly tied to per-pupil aid from state and federal governments. Low enrollment also affects school budgets and long-term facilities plans. As a result, school districts across the country had to tough decisions, budget cuts, layoffs of teachers and administrative staff, or even school closures. This is beyond addressing a rapidly widening achievement gap, especially for students of color.
But could plummeting public school enrollment potentially be a good thing for some students?
Although plummeting enrollment numbers are affecting public school districts in specific ways, Wendi Williams, dean of the School of Education at Mills College, says it could be. There are proven benefits to smaller class sizes, he said, including a greater sense of connection and community. Mills College is set to merge with Northeastern University in July.
Williams recalled attending public schools in Southern California during the 1980s and 1990s, at a time when class sizes routinely reached more than 30 students to a classroom.
“We've had overcrowded classrooms, so what might look like too few students in a class can be the right class size for effective learning and community development and engagement, especially for kids who need to ease into social engagement after pandemic,” says Williams.
The pandemic is not solely to blame for declining enrollment nationwide. Lower birth rates and immigration had already led to a nationwide downward trend in public school enrollment before the pandemic, Williams says. However, the pandemic has worsened the situation.
in Boston, public school enrollment have been steadily declining since 2015, but the pandemic saw a rapid decline. This year alone the student volume has decreased by 4%.
According to Williams, there are several possible explanations for the rejection. Frustrated by the shift to distance learning and mask mandates in schools, some parents have pulled their children out of public schools and sent them to private schools. Private schools initially saw declining enrollment during the pandemic — a 6.4 percent drop between the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years, according to National Association of Independent Schools. However, the National Catholic Education Association reported a 3.8 percent increase in enrollment in 2021-2022, the first increase in two decades.
Due to the loss of work in their families, the ongoing financial impact of the pandemic or health issues related to COVID, some students, especially students of color, have faced additional challenges during the pandemic, says Cliff Lee, associate professor of education at Mills College.
“This has had a significant impact on the mental health, spiritual health, emotional health of students and families, and it's not over,” Lee says. “Families continue to experience the ongoing challenges of COVID, along with inflation and economic uncertainty.”
Meanwhile, other families turned to homeschooling and took advantage of the flexibility that telecommuting offers.
“I think parents and kids have seen freedom in that,” Williams says. “A lot of people haven't gone back to work or had more flexibility about remote options and have worked out the scheduling and dynamics of life with school. And with the world being slightly more open, it means they can balance indoors and outdoors. I think it changed things.”
While Williams has been excited by how involved parents have become in their children's education in recent years, she also cautioned that there are some things teachers are essentially better equipped to do.
“Knowing your child and knowing who your child is as a learner is not the same as having a deep understanding around pedagogical practices, different types of learners, particularly in the area of special education and differentiated learning and thinking. about the wide range of neuro-divergence among young people and how it can and should be supported in a multi-child, as opposed to a single-child, school environment,” says Williams.
In a public school, individual education is a luxury. However, Williams says smaller class sizes are generally a way to help students and teachers improve classroom learning. Lower enrollment could provide an unexpected benefit in this regard.
“[Students] it takes more time to learn and get to know them, and a good teacher needs more space and time to get to know them not only individually, but also to create the possibilities and opportunities for other children to get to know them well and for other parents get to know them well too. Williams adds.
However, embracing the small class movement is about more than just smaller class sizes.
“Ultimately, it comes down to money and resources, but what's best for the kids may not always be what's best for the budget,” says Williams.
Williams was hesitant to say whether there will be an uptick or further decline in enrollment, though she was adamant that the past two years of declining enrollment are just another blip in a long line of ups and downs for the public school system. Instead, he says there will likely be increases and decreases based on “local dynamics” in some cities and states.
“The places that are cheaper to live will probably see an uptick,” says Williams. “I'm in the Bay Area. It's expensive, and people are choosing to move to suburban and even rural areas because they're more affordable in terms of housing, and so public schools in those areas may see an uptick.”
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