FIX DECLINING ENROLLMENT ~ No More Lost Children

By John Briscoe

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Our public schools exist in a new age of choice for families with children. Recent California Supreme Court decisions have solidified the rights of parents to educate their own children at home without government notification. This is in addition to private and religious school choice without government notification.

The statistics are staggering. Our local four elementary school districts do not enroll all the children living in their boundaries. The fact is, they only attract between 82% to a low 59% of the kids living by their schools. Yes, one local district sees almost half if its children seeking education someplace else.

Where are the children going? The Ocean View School District provides an interesting example. There are approximately 12,200 total children living in District boundaries. The District only attracts 9,200 of these children, the rest go somewhere else. It is estimated that local church and private schools have seats to handle 1,500 total students. This leaves a potential 1,500 students accountable only by home schooling. Whatever the true number is, the 25% not attending today is projected to be 33% in just four years. Yes, 1 in 3 kids will educate elsewhere.

Districts that are concerned about this would be well advised to investigate what programs these families seek and provide them. Free public schools with programs attractive to the 19% to 41% of kids educating elsewhere would go a long way towards opening closed school sites and providing the economic diversity our schools used to exhibit. A vibrant school system that includes all or most of the children in the community benefits us all.