In a world filled with uncertainty, one thing that America’s schools can bank on is fewer students to go around. As a Bellwether analysis released earlier this month explained, birth rates are down 14% over the past decade, and that already means shrinking enrollment in America’s elementary and middle schools, with declines coming soon in high schools, too. We have too many school buildings for too few students. Some campuses are going to have to close.
Ample research makes clear that forcing students to switch schools can be traumatic and even harmful, especially if they end up attending lower-performing campuses. Yet closing an underenrolled school is beneficial when displaced students land in better alternatives. And of course, the primary purpose of most closures isn’t just to help this generation of students. It ensures that future generations of children are well-served, too.
In the face of enrollment declines that won’t reverse for decades—if ever—common sense suggests that schools that are both underenrolled and underperforming should be the first to close.
Read more at Forbes.
