, the nation’s largest school district has lost some 50,000 students over the past two years. In , enrollment remains more than 50,000 below prepandemic levels from big cities to the .
In the suburbs of Orange County, Calif., where families have moved for generations to be part of the public school system, enrollment slid for the second consecutive year; statewide, more than a quarter-million public school students have dropped from California’s rolls since 2019.
And since school funding is tied to enrollment, cities that have lost many students – including Denver, Albuquerque and Oakland – are now considering combining classrooms, laying off teachers or shutting down entire schools.
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