Minnesota public school enrollment down 17,000 students

[Valin]

Alpha News

Overall, the United States saw about 1.5 million students leave the public school system last year.

Megan Olson

July 12, 2021

New data show that Minnesota’s public school enrollment is down a significant amount of students compared to pre-COVID numbers.

Federal data published by The 74 reveals that Minnesota’s public school enrollment in grades K-12 dropped 2.36% from the 2019-2020 to the 2020-2021 school years.

The 2.36% decrease equates to about 17,000 students. Of this, about 6,000 of the student decrease comes from kindergarteners alone. The next notable grade decrease is sixth grade, which lost about 2,800 students.

Despite the decrease in public school enrollment, Minnesota state lawmakers recently agreed on a $525 million education funding boost, which includes a 2.4% increase in per-pupil funding for the 2021-2022 school year.

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The numbers being talked about are Not huge....But every avalanche starts with One Pebble.

My reply

Can we step back and go up to the 30,000 foot level. Public education has had some serious problems for sometime now(30+ years?). Academic standings have been falling while costs have been rising.Many/Most people knew this, but What To Do? Home schooling was not a (practically speaking) a viable option for most people. Big Ed. (schools of education, the teachers unions) has had a virtual monopoly on how our children were educated. Then along comes That Little Silicon Chip, and things like The Khan Academy and other organizations/companies, Suddenly Home schooling is now a viable option for your basic parents, combined with home schooling parental groups getting together so the children can socialize.
Welcome to the XXI century. Big Ed. is in Trouble, and They Know It. They may be many things, Stupid is Not one of them.

 

It would not surprise me in the least to find enrollment numbers in many other areas heading in the same direction...Down.

I see this change right across the board, entertainment,news,commerce, politics. It is a Whole New World.

Example: I LOVE history. Particularly Early Middle Ages. I can sit here in my (Plush Penthouse :-)) apartment, and read/study/take courses from Major universities, Mostly for Free. 30 years ago Not possible.

[Draggingtree]

WOW    all I saw was 17,000