Placement of Students (By Parents)

For John, BLUF:  Are parents voting on Public Schools by moving their children to other schools or to home schooling or maybe just moving to a new community and school district?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Blue State Blues:  Record Number of Students Flee Nation's Largest Public School Districts

From PJ Media, by Reporter Gwendolyn Sims, 31 October 2021, 9:40 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus two:

This week the three largest public school districts in the U.S. announced that they are in the middle of a massive and continuing problem: record low enrollment numbers.

The New York Times reported that since the fall of 2019 enrollment in New York City’s (NYC) public school system—the nation’s largest district—has dropped by about 50,000 students or 4.5%.  The numbers are even worse in the nation’s second-largest public school district, where the Los Angeles Times reported the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) lost a record of more than 27,000 students or 6.0% of its enrollment since 2019.  The third-largest district’s numbers are just as bad in Chicago’s public schools (CPS), where WTTW reported enrollment is down nearly 25,000 students or 3.0% over the same time.

What exactly is to blame for the record drop in enrollment across these districts?  The districts are quick to blame the COVID-19 pandemic; that’s not the only reason fewer parents want their children to attend these public schools, but you’d never know that to listen to them.

We need more data, but the current numbers suggest there may be problems out there.

While I find it unlikely to happen, it would be interesting and revealing if state and local governments allocated school money to the individual students, to be spent as the parents see fit.  Will parents who can't afford private or parochial schools today shift their children's school of choice under such a regime?  There is a hint in the election of Florida Governor Ron DiSantis.  What put him over the top was 100,000 Black women who voted for him over the issue of schools.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff