The fact that many children are ditching America’s public schools is undeniable. Most recently, Nat Malkus, Deputy Director of Education Policy at the American Enterprise Institute, reported that while chronic absenteeism spiked during the COVID pandemic, it remains a serious problem. In 2024, rates were 57% higher than they were before the pandemic. (Students who miss at least 10% of the school year, or roughly 18 days, are considered chronically absent.)
Malkus goes on to explain that in 2018 and 2019, about 15% of K–12 public school students in the U.S. were chronically absent—a number so high that numerous observers and the U.S. Department of Education are labeling it a “crisis.”
In total, nearly one in twelve public schools in the United States has experienced a “substantial” enrollment decline over the last five years.
The problem is especially egregious in our big cities. In Los Angeles, more than 32% of students were chronically absent in the 2023-2024 school year.
In Chicago, dwindling enrollment has left about 150 schools half-empty, while 47 operate at less than one-third capacity.
Additionally, schools identified by their states as chronically low-performing were more than twice as likely to experience sizable enrollment declines as other public schools.
In February 2025, FutureEd disclosed that data from 22 states and the District of Columbia for the 2023-24 school year show significant differences across grade levels, with absenteeism particularly severe in high school.
“In most states, 12th graders have the highest rates of chronic absenteeism, often far exceeding state averages. In Mississippi, for example, the overall absenteeism rate was 24%, but among seniors, it soared to 41%. Several other states have senior absenteeism rates above 40%, with rates in the District of Columbia and Oregon exceeding 50%.”
FutureEd also reports that kindergartners have disproportionately high rates of chronic absenteeism.
Yet another analysis of data from three states—North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia—shows that, before the COVID pandemic, 17% of students were chronically absent; however, by 2023, long after schools had to cope with new variants and hybrid schedules, that figure had risen to 37%.
The question then becomes, why is this happening?
Many kids have no interest in attending school. A 2024 report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, which surveyed over 1,000 Gen Z students aged 12 to 18, found that only 48% of those enrolled in middle or high school felt motivated to attend school. Only half said they do something interesting in school every day. Similarly, a 2024 EdChoice survey indicates that 64% of teens said school is boring, and 30% perceive it as a waste of time.
It’s not just teens who are unhappy with their school. According to a Gallup poll published this past February, 73% of 1,005 adult respondents were dissatisfied with the quality of public education in the U.S., the highest dissatisfaction rate since the survey began and a 5-point increase from last year’s rate of 68%. In 2001, dissatisfaction was at 57%.
Another reason for the decline in students is that people, particularly in urban areas, are having fewer children than in the past. In fact, 80% of metropolitan areas are experiencing a downward trend in the number of children aged 14 and younger.
One of the ironies of the situation is that while enrollment declines, fewer schools are closing. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics found that in 2014-15, the closure rate—the share of schools nationwide that were open one year and closed the next—was 1.3%. In 2023-24, the rate was just .8%.
What steps can we take to rectify this distressing situation?
Due to the declining school population, schools must be consolidated. Schools, such as those in Chicago, that are only half or a third full need to be closed. Some students may have to take a bus to school, but that’s not an onerous task.
There is also a problem with teacher quality. With declining student numbers in schools, teachers will likely face layoffs. Ideally, the lowest-performing teachers should be the first to be eliminated. However, restrictive union contracts stipulate that layoffs must be based on seniority.
Ultimately, parents must take responsibility for their children’s education. They can choose to homeschool or enroll them in a local microschool. A study shows that parent-led tutoring efforts in Oakland “produced similar gains in reading for young students as instruction from classroom teachers—a nod that could inspire similar efforts in other districts.”
Also, there are currently 76 private school choice programs in 35 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Overall, 45% of the nation’s 49.6 million students are eligible to participate in a private school choice program. However, just 1.2 million students partake in one.
Too many Americans have become overly dependent on government-run schools, many of which are underperforming. Therefore, for the sake of their children, parents must take responsibility for their education, just as they do for their food, clothing, and shelter. By doing so, they can change the course of their children’s lives.
Larry Sand, a retired 28-year classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network—a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.