{"id":1027,"date":"2026-07-22T16:39:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T16:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=1027"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:39:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T16:39:56","slug":"american-public-schools-lost-1-4-million-students-since-covid-their-budgets-grew-by-34-percent-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pioneerrelocationnews.com\/?p=1027","title":{"rendered":"American Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students Since COVID. Their Budgets Grew by 34 Percent Anyway."},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Since 2019, public school enrollment has fallen by 2.84 percent nationwide, an exodus of roughly 1.4 million. K-12 students, <\/span> the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Yet the amount spent on public schools nationwide grew by 34 percent from 2019 to 2024, <\/span> NCES data.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Much of that is thanks to the nearly <\/span>$190 billion<\/span>\u00a0Congress provided to state and local governments through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), in three separate batches from March 2020 to March 2021. Now that the ESSER funds are largely spent, school districts are grappling with staffing decisions made during a spending boom that seems unlikely to be repeated anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its 2026 American School District Panel (ASDP) survey of public school officials across the country, research organization RAND <\/span>found<\/span> that “54 percent of district leaders” were worried about a budget shortfall, even though educational spending has increased across all levels of government, even after adjusting for inflation. On average, the U.S. spends about <\/span> per student, according to NCES. It’s an increase of 34 percent from the NCES’ <\/span> of $13,187.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, more money hasn’t led to better student outcomes. At each grade level and across subject areas, there’s a decline in current achievement when compared to student benchmarks from 2019. In 2024, the most recent data available, only <\/span>60 percent<\/span> of fourth graders and <\/span>67 percent<\/span> of eighth graders were reading at or above a basic level, the lowest performance tier used by the National Center for Education Statistics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn’t get better as students age, with just <\/span>68 percent <\/span>of high school seniors reading at or above a basic level.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The middling level of achievement isn’t new, so why does spending continue to climb? The answer lies in state and local budgets, which provide <\/span> of funding for public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

During COVID, several school districts nationwide <\/span> “hold harmless” budget provisions that guaranteed schools would receive as much funding as the previous year, regardless of enrollment rates. Post-pandemic, about 60 percent of states use some version of a hold-harmless provision for school funding, <\/span> the education nonprofit EdChoice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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In turn, this has led to an imbalance between where students learn and where taxpayer money is spent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to its hold-harmless provision, New York City will spend $290 million in 2027 to prevent budget cuts at public schools with declining enrollment, more than double what the city spent “prior to the beginning” of the 2025\u201326 school year, <\/span>according to<\/span> Chalkbeat<\/span><\/i>. In Pennsylvania, student enrollment at public schools is down <\/span>1.8 percent<\/span> since 2019, yet the state has increased the number of support staff hired by 2.7 percent over the same period. Spending on public education in the commonwealth is up year over year, and Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s latest budget <\/span>represents<\/span> a “nearly 35 percent increase” compared to previous years.<\/span><\/p>\n

These budgeting stopgaps might be good for politicians, but they’ve done nothing to assuage parents, who continue to enroll their children elsewhere. Charter schools, meanwhile, have seen enrollment increase by about <\/span>, while enrollment at independent schools has remained <\/span>relatively steady<\/span> over the same period.<\/span><\/p>\n

It also hasn’t quelled administrators’ concern about cuts, with some deciding to trim salaries, wages, and employee benefit accounts, which account for <\/span> of elementary and secondary school budgets. Last week, Chicago public schools announced it would have to lay off “760 teachers, 801 teacher aides and 162 central office and citywide staff” to deal with its $732 million budget deficit, <\/span>according to<\/span> the <\/span>Chicago Sun-Times<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

With little link between funding and student achievement, it’s fair to ask why taxpayers are footing the bill for public education systems that are more of a burden than a boon.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Public schools have lost 1.4 million students since 2019, yet spending has increased while reading scores remain below pre-pandemic levels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education"],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students Since COVID. 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