One answer to “Why are there 42 kids in my child’s class?” | Get Schooled

One answer to “Why are there 42 kids in my child’s class?” | Get Schooled:

One answer to “Why are there 42 kids in my child’s class?”

by Maureen Downey

The AJC had an interesting piece this weekend on the inexact science of predicting school enrollments. I cannot link as the story was limited to AJC subscribers and did not appear online.
The gist of the story: Despite reviews of multiple records — census, birth records, housing, dropout and migration — and mathematical formulas, schools can get enrollments wrong. The predictions become even more difficult in a recession when parents are pulling their children out of private schools. (Public school enrollment is up nationwide.)
Here is an excerpt of the AJC piece:

Cobb County recently spent $2.2 million hiring 30 extra teachers because its projection was low by 1,364 students. Gwinnett’s projection was 2,059 students low. The district is hiring 10 teachers