Preschool and Kindergarten Enrollment Drops 13 Percent Nationally

Contact Your Elected Officials
The Epoch Times

Public school enrollment in 2020โ€“2021 fell by 3 percent nationally compared to a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Educationโ€™s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), with pre-K and kindergarten jointly seeing a sharp 13-percent drop.

The stark numbers represent the biggest year-over-year decline in enrollment since the start of the century, with the drop concentrated among the youngest learners, the NCES figures show.

Pre-K saw a 22-percent decrease, kindergarten enrollment fell by 9 percent, grades 1โ€“8 experienced a 3-percent drop, while grades 9โ€“12 saw enrollment rise by 0.4 percent. The figures are preliminary, with the final results expected next spring.

NCES Acting Commissioner Peggy Carr said in a statement cited by K-12 Dive that the figures are โ€œpreliminary but concerning,โ€ adding that the enrollment drops were โ€œwidespread and affected almost every single state and every region of the country.โ€

The agencyโ€™s enrollment figures reinforce the view that the pandemic-related disruptions drove many families to switch to private schools or homeschooling.

At the same time, with the outbreak increasingly showing signs of tailing off, school districts across the United States are hiring additional teachers in anticipation of what is expected to be one of the largest kindergarten classes ever as enrollment rebounds.

Robin Lake, an education researcher and director for the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a nonpartisan think tank, told K-12 Drive that surveys indicate that school districts can expect a โ€œflood of young kidsโ€ next fall, posing a logistical challenge as they plan funding, staffing, and space.

Educators are also bracing for many students to be less prepared than usual due to lower preschool attendance rates.

โ€œThe job of the kindergarten teacher just got a lot harder,โ€ said Steven Barnett, senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University. He co-authored a report that found that the number of 4-year-olds participating in preschool fell from 71 percent before the pandemic to 54 percent during the pandemic.

BYย TOM OZIMEK

Read Full Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Thinking Conservative
The Thinking Conservativehttps://www.thethinkingconservative.com/
The goal of THE THINKING CONSERVATIVE is to help us educate ourselves on conservative topics of importance to our freedom and our pursuit of happiness. We do this by sharing conservative opinions on all kinds of subjects, from all types of people, and all kinds of media, in a way that will challenge our perceptions and help us to make educated choices.

AI is Now an Existential Threat

We now see evidence that artificial intelligence is an existential threat to our future. It is coming to take American jobs!

With or without

The mullahs of Iran have been at war with the West, particularly the US, for half a century and Iran is also the worldโ€™s foremost champion of terrorism.

Artificial Intelligence Equals Awful Iniquities

WSJ article โ€œAI is Learning to Escape Human Controlโ€ said in 79 of 100 trials, the o3 AI code systems edited their own code to prevent human shutdown!

VIDEO: Deranged Feminist vs. Mating Ducks in Epic Public Meltdown

A middle-aged white lady lib harasses mating ducks to โ€œstop it!โ€ because the rough sex they enjoy appears non-consensual on the part of the female.

RFK Jr. Slashes ALL U.S. Funding For Bill Gatesโ€™ Global โ€˜Vaccine Allianceโ€™

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently pulled all U.S. government funding from Bill Gatesโ€™ Global โ€˜Vaccine Allianceโ€™ GAVI.

Musk Again Wades Into Politics, Calls GOP Bill โ€˜Insane and Destructiveโ€™

โ€œThe latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!โ€ Musk wrote in a Saturday post on X.

Nevada Seen as Case Study in Rapid Urban Sprawl Amid a Water Crisis

Nevadaโ€™s rapidly growing population has reached a critical intersection with the regionโ€™s worsening water crisis, according to experts.

US Streamlines Rule for Fining Illegal Immigrants, Will Issue Nearly $1,000 Daily Fines for Noncompliance

DHS and DOJ announced a new joint federal rule that streamlines the process of issuing fines for illegal immigrants, making it easier and more efficient.

Man Indicted on 12 Hate Crime Charges in Attack on Boulder Demonstration for Israeli Hostages

Boulder, CO man accused of hurling Molotov cocktails at demonstrators supporting Israeli hostages indicted by grand jury on 12 hate crime counts.

Canada-US Trade Talks Will End Until โ€˜Certain Taxesโ€™ Are Dropped, Trump Stresses

Trade discussions between Canada and the United States will end โ€œuntil such time as they drop certain taxes,โ€ U.S. President Trump said in an interview.

Trump Says US to Send Tariff Letters to Trade Partners Before July 9 Deadline

President Donald Trump said Sunday he will soon send letters to trading partners detailing the tariffs to be imposed on their exports to the United States.

Trump Says He Found a Buyer for TikTok

President Trump said he found a buyer for the Chinese-owned short video application TikTok, and that he will reveal the group in roughly two weeks.

Termination of โ€˜Wasteful Contractsโ€™ Saves US Government $470 Million Last Week: DOGE

Over the past seven days, various government agencies have terminated 312 โ€œwasteful contractsโ€ with a ceiling value of $2.8 billion, the DOGE said.
spot_img

Related Articles