The Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a new report that looks at post-pandemic enrollment declines at low-performing U.S. public schools — and what it means for school closure decisions that are being considered. Specific schools are named in the report’s appendix table A-1, which is organized by state and district.
Over 1 million students nationwide did not return to public schools after the Covid-19 pandemic, and due to declining birthrates, the Education Department estimates that total public school enrollment will drop by another 5 percent or more by 2031. As a result, it’s likely that some public schools will need to close in the near future.
Today, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute released a new study on the ongoing enrollment crisis in America’s public schools. In it, author Sofoklis Goulas of the Brookings Institution uses data from multiple sources to identify nearly 500 public schools that are underenrolled, and according to their states, chronically low-achieving.
Key findings include:
- Nearly one in twelve public schools has experienced a substantial enrollment decline in the wake of the pandemic (totaling over 5,100 schools).
- Schools that were identified as chronically low performing by their states were more than twice as likely to experience sizable enrollment declines compared to other public schools. Chronically-low-performing schools that experienced substantial enrollment losses were also more likely to be located in high-poverty neighborhoods.
- Nationally, close to 500 chronically-low-performing schools have experienced enrollment declines of more than 20 percent in the wake of the pandemic (see the report appendix for school names).
“Closing under-enrolled schools is painful and divisive, yet the status quo is becoming unsustainable—costly, inefficient, and educationally ineffective,” said Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. “And while there are many reasons why the nearly 500 schools identified in our new study may not be the right ones to close, they should certainly be candidates as local officials determine how to address enrollment declines.”
The report, Underachieving and Underenrolled: Chronically Low-Performing Schools in the Post-Pandemic Era, is available at: https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/underachieving-and-underenrolled-chronicallylow-performing-schools-post-pandemic
