Where Have All the Children Gone?
COVID-era Kindergarten Enrollment Drop Raises Deep Concerns
Newly released figures from the Los Angeles Unified School District – one of the nation’s largest – show that roughly 6,000 fewer students registered for kindergarten this school year than in the previous year – a roughly 14% decrease from last year’s number of 42,912 children.
At a recent public address, Superintendent Austin Beutner said the biggest declines came from the most impoverished neighborhoods, where economic hardship resulting from the pandemic is most acute.
“We suspect some of this is because families may lack the ability to provide full-time support at home for online learning, which is necessary for very young learners,” Beutner said. “This is yet another reminder that this crisis is having a disproportionate impact on low-income families.”
Formal education isn’t legally required for California children younger than age 6, but experts have long said that high-quality preschool and kindergarten programs can narrow racial and economic achievement gaps among students. That’s why this year’s kindergarten decline could roll back the academic progress of vulnerable students – low-income youth, English language learners, children in foster care or from communities ofc olor.
Children who sit out kindergarten may not only suffer academically but also socially, entering first grade without basic skills.
And as the spread of coronavirus leads to unprecedented job, housing and food insecurity, Beutner expects volatility in enrollment to continue for the foreseeable future.
“Since the crisis began, schools have had to balance three, sometimes–conflicting, priorities: the learning needs of students, the needs of working families and the health and safety of all in the school community,” he said during his Aug. 31 update to the LAUSD community.
Los Angeles Unified schools ended in-person instruction on March 13, but with COVID-19 cases dropping and CONTINUE READING: Where Have All the Children Gone? - LA Progressive