Public Schools Are Responsible For Their Enrollment Drops

“Enrollment in preschool to 12th grade dropped by 2.6% across 41 states last fall.” This doesn’t sound like much, until one realizes that it’s 2.6% of nearly 50 million students, which equates to 1 million students missing from public school classrooms this Fall.

Exacerbating these problems were the gimmicks that districts employed in response.

• When they decided failures were the problem, they took on standards or competency-based grading, a grading system that made failure practically impossible.
• When they thought student safety was the problem, they adopted restorative discipline, which made effective punishment for misbehavior practically impossible.
• When they thought student engagement was the problem, they introduced project-based learning, which made objective assessment practically impossible.
• When they thought student’s mental health was a problem, they implemented Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs, which made authentic relationship-building impossible.