U.S. public schools are beginning to tackle the problem of severe under-enrollment – a decision delayed by years of federal COVID-19 pandemic relief funding.
“Public school enrollment is projected to tumble 5.5% between 2022 and 2031, largely due to changing demographics, according to the National Center for Education Statistics,” explains KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas.
“Other factors include the shift by some students to private education or homeschooling and some immigrant families’ decisions to leave the country.”
Since the $195 billion distributed to public education needed to be spent by 2024, districts nationwide must address this issue formerly cloaked by pandemic relief, according to analysts.
“It’s going to continue to fall for years to come,” said Aaron Garth Smith, director of education reform at the Reason Foundation think tank, of public-school enrollment. “And so generally, state and local policymakers have to adapt to this new reality.”
