NYC public schools have lost 31,000 students this fall, preliminary data show
This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.
One family left their Harlem public school for Montana, while a Brooklyn family stayed put, but placed their children in Catholic school. Another dad kept his son home to teach the third grader himself. Meanwhile some students may be dropping out of school entirely to find jobs to support their families.
The reasons vary, but one thing is clear: Public school enrollment is falling at schools across New York City, according to preliminary data obtained by Chalkbeat. School rosters have already lost about 31,000 students compared with last year — or 3.4 percent of the district’s enrollment, which now stands just over 901,000, not including charters or early childhood programs.