During the pandemic, many parents and families started considering alternative pathways to K12 education for their children. Remote learning gave many parents a better idea of what exactly is being taught in their children’s classrooms. The politics of it all—do kids need to wear masks, get vaccinated or stay out of school?—made it even more difficult for educators to make learning during this period an ideal experience for students. As a result, parents sought new experiences for their kids, like private schools—and many have chosen to stay, new data suggests.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, private school enrollment overall went up 1.7% in the 2021-22 school year, despite a 3% decrease in the number of private school campuses and a lack of international students due to COVID. In contrast, public schools saw enrollment declines ranging from 3 to 6% in grades K-7. Grades 9-12 saw just a 1% increase.
“The results of this survey, coupled with the enrollment data we have collected from public schools, highlight differences in enrollment patterns across school sectors during a period of unprecedented disruption in U.S. education, NCES Commissioner Peggy G. Carr said in a statement.
Some 4.7 million K12 students are enrolled in private schools across the country as of 2022, according to the data. Nearly the same amount were enrolled during the 2019-20 school year, also the start of the pandemic.
Bolstering opportunity
This research comes at a time when public schools are pressured by a looming fiscal cliff as a result of the extermination of pandemic relief funds to maintain steady enrollment numbers.
Recent research from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute also reflects these findings. According to its latest report, the number of students not enrolled in a district-run school increased by nearly 3% between 2010 and 2020 in the nation’s largest 125 school districts. The researchers attributed this growth to the rising popularity of charter schools.
They also noted a steady presence in the number of students attending private schools.
More from DA: AI and texting: Your school’s new student success team
Also in recent months, states such as Florida, Iowa and Arkansas have given lawmakers the green light to significantly expand school vouchers this year, Politico reports. These initiatives give families thousands of dollars to ensure their children earn an education from the institution they deem suitable for their kids.
A record 20 states have enacted school choice policies in some form or fashion as of October 2023. In some areas, they’re seeing a significant shift in enrollment numbers in response.
In Florida, for instance, researchers have recorded about a 42% increase in the number of students enrolled in the state’s two primary voucher programs, according to data released by Step Up For Students, one of the leading organizations offering these scholarships.
In Arizona, some 68,000 students are leveraging scholarships worth $7,300 each, Politico reports, resulting in program costs averaging $665 million, $40 million higher than original estimate forecasts.
“I’ve been studying school choice for 25 years,” Patrick Wolf, an education policy professor at the University of Arkansas, told Politico. “This is the big breakout year.”
