Where Have all the Children gone?

 Where Have all the Children Gone?

 

All across Maryland school districts are reporting a big drop in school enrollment.  The deficits are most notable in the lower grades where the thought it that kids are in private schools or being home schooled.   It is the upper high school grades that are most concerning.

When the pandemic hit most public school systems went virtual. Private schools were not so quick to follow.   Some children and their families immediately saw that virtual schooling would not work for their children.  Public schools are learning that now as fall state testing scores have plummeted beyond that seen in 2019 when the scores were already pretty bad.  

Families who place their children in private schools are finding that their budgets can sustain that enrollment and that they are happy with the safety of the environment and more attention to their children.  At the same time, public schools are experiencing a huge uptick in physical aggression and even violence that would not exactly draw families back to them.   These children and their families care about education and the loss of their advocacy is another loss for public schools.

The decrease in high school students is more troublesome.  Many of those kids may never return to school.  The data seem to be that they are not in private schools nor are they being home-schooled.  Too many of these kids are out of the system for good.  The lack of entry level staff in retail and food service has proved to be fertile ground for these young people to snare those $15 an hour jobs that seem like a big deal to them.   They do not have the perception to understand that a job that seems great at 17 may not be so hot at 27 or even 37, and without a high school diploma, let alone college, their future is not very bright.

Then there is the rise of home-schooling to consider.   It appears that there are two large demographics that are very much into home schooling.  One is families on the religious right and/or very conservative politically.  They do not want their children influenced by what they see as a radical liberal agenda that is taking over the curriculum in public schools.   Well educated families of Black children are also flocking to the home-schooling movement.   They are working to protect their children from the implied or explicit racism they see in the public schools where it is not uncommon for administrators to tell parents that bullying is a part of life- adjust!

The movement away from public schools is unfortunate on multiple levels.   One of the great benefits of a universal public school system is the opportunity to get to know other kids who live outside of our own bubble.  So conservative thinking students get to hear their views challenged rather than live in an echo chamber.  The same if true for students growing up in very left wing thinking families.  People (and students ARE people) need to have their views challenged and changed or not.

African-American kids should not be bullied in school.  Nor should they be exposed to racism.  But like all kids, it is good for them to know and maybe even be friends with kids who are different from them.  And the white kids in those public schools need to know Black kids who are much more like them than different.  

In the end, the loss of enrollment in public schools is bad in lots of ways.  Last year, Maryland did not punish public schools by reducing funding for decreased enrollment.  That won’t happen this year, so schools will lose money.

The children are losing enriching experiences.

Where have all the children gone?  Gone to safer spaces almost everyone, there’s lots of work to be done if public schools want them back.