Recent federal data on school enrollment adds more detail to the picture we have about falling numbers of students in the nation’s public K-12 classrooms.
Most of the country’s 100 largest districts by enrollment have seen declines since the 2019-20 school year. The National Center for Education Statistics released its data for 2023-24 in December.
Nine out of the 10 biggest districts — including New York City, Los Angeles and Miami-Dade — have seen enrollment dip by up to 13 percent compared to the year that COVID-19 first closed schools.
New York City’s waning numbers are leveling off, but still has 100,000 fewer students than before the pandemic. The think-tank Empire Center for Public Policy cites a confluence of factors that are leading to the enrollment decreases, including fertility rates, less immigration and an increase in homeschooling and microschools supported by more parents’ ability to work from home.
Students who speak a language other than English at home accounted for a greater share of Los Angeles' enrollment dip than students who speak only English, as noted by the Public Policy Institute of California, most likely driven by lower birth rates among Latinas.
It’s a change that could affect funding for English learner resources in the future, according to a brief by the institute: "Declining numbers could impact program offerings, making it more challenging to offer bilingual or dual immersion programs and/or translation services.”
Houston schools have likewise seen a drop in enrollment — which the superintendent attributes partly to criticism of the state’s takeover of the district — since 2019-20. Meanwhile, at least five of its neighboring school districts have more students enrolled compared to five years ago, with increases up to nearly 14 percent.
The largest enrollment growth since the start of the pandemic came from Idea Public Schools, a charter district in Texas, that reports an eye-popping 55 percent increase since 2019-20. It had about 76,800 students at the end of 2023-24. Texas approved the district’s plans to expand with an additional 10 campuses as of last March, shortly after the district was placed in a state conservatorship following an investigation into its spending.
In Nevada, state-sponsored charter schools collectively accounted for the nation’s second-largest enrollment growth rate. Charter schools in Nevada have steadily been closing in on the Battle Born State’s second place ranking for enrollment, according to an analysis by the Nevada Current, and recently caused the Washoe County superintendent to worry that charter expansion could lead to nearby elementary school closures.
Melissa Mackedon, executive director of Nevada’s State Public Charter School Authority, says parent demand is behind charter schools’ enrollment growth.
“We now realize that education cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach,” Mackedon says. “Different students thrive in different circumstances. The charter space allows parents more voice and choice in determining what is best for their students and they continue to demand more options.”
