NPR just published Enrollment Is Dropping In Public Schools Around the Country.

According to the article, it sounds like the big drop is in kindergarten, which makes sense to me. I can’t imagine trying to introduce a kindergarten-age child to school through remote education.  For what it’s worth, our high school’s enrollment is up from last year, though I realize one school does not make a trend.

I don’t want to sound Pollyannaish, but doomsaying about the Coronavirus’ effect on public education is seeming a big overblown. It’s hard for me to imagine that pandemic pods are going to be sustainable over the long term. I’d also bet dollars to donuts that those numbers bounce back after a vaccine is found. And others are now as skeptical as I was about the so-called “learning loss” that occurred for many students during the shutdown in the spring.

Nevertheless, I do continue to be very concerned about this year’s impact on our most vulnerable student populations (see The First Few Days Of Distance Learning Have Left Me DEEPLY Concerned About Our Most Vulnerable Students).

I’m hopeful that President Trump’s latest mood swing is a bit longer-lasting than his last one, and that a new stimulus package goes forward (see Trump, in total reversal, is telling allies he is, in fact, interested in a broad stimulus deal).

If that is indeed the case, maybe there could be funds available for widespread tutoring to support those students.