The shocking number comes from Education Next, a nonpartisan research organization.
Specifically, researchers found that, from 2020-2022, enrollment in public schools declined from 81% to 76.5%, charter school enrollment increased from 5% to 7.2%, private school enrollment increased from 8% to 9.7%, and homeschooling rose from 6% to 6.6%.
Although appearing to be a significant drop in enrollment, the report did not consider the decline to be severe. Additionally, the researchers found that, in November 2020, public school enrollment had dropped down to 72%, or 4.5 percentage points lower than it is at present.
Recently, debates surrounding lockdown measures and controversial curriculum content have led many parents to take their children out of public schools and choose alternatives like homeschooling or private education.
In September of last year, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report showing that around 1.4 million children had been taken out of public schools, based on an analysis of the school districts of 41 states and the District of Columbia.
The report stated, “There is much to learn from families who made the switch, and perhaps the biggest lesson for everyone is how critically important charter schools are to public education.”