Pandemic & Public Schools: Enrollments Suffer from Poor Decisions

The nation’s public schools suffered unprecedented enrollment declines in the 2020–21 school year, losing more than one in 40 K–12 students, and representing median potential revenue losses of over $400,000 when all but the smallest school districts are considered. Today, the two outstanding questions for schools across the nation are: Will students return to public schools? And if not, why not?

As enrollment data for this year are sporadically released state by state, a national picture is elusive. Longer-term prospects for public schools would look better if the nation ended up more like Alabama, where enrollment rebounded, than New York, where many more K–12 students left again this year.

About the Author

Nat Malkus

Nat Malkus is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the deputy director of its education-policy studies.

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The nation’s public schools suffered unprecedented enrollment declines in the 2020–21 school year, losing more than one in 40 K–12 students, and representing median potential revenue losses of over $400,000 when all but the smallest school districts are considered. Today, the two outstanding questions for schools across the nation are: Will students return to public schools? And if not, why not?

As enrollment data for this year are sporadically released state by state, a national picture is elusive. Longer-term prospects for public schools would look better if the nation ended up more like Alabama, where enrollment rebounded, than New York, where many more K–12 students left again this year.