Tuesday, May 28, 2024

Public schools are closing as school choice takes off

As Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed school choice initiatives, leading to a spike in charter and private school enrollments, public schools are shutting down.

Duval County Public School District, the sixth-largest school district in Florida and 20th largest in the country, is now considering campus closures due to dramatic dips in their enrollment.

Broward County Public Schools, Florida's second largest school district, has evaluated plans to close up to 42 campuses over the next few years.

In 2023, 31 Florida school districts had 10% or more of their total pre-kindergarten to 12th grade students enrolled in private schools, according to the same report.

Since 2013, over 600 new private schools were established in Florida, and about 120,000 students opted for private education over public, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Florida public schools, including Duval County schools, have faced scrutiny for promoting unpopular social causes like critical race theory and barring graduation ceremonies from being held in churches.

As a result, Miami-Dade County, Sarasota County, Duval County, Martin County and Clay County then had conservative majorities on their school boards. 

https://www.wnd.com/2024/05/watch-public-schools-closing-school-choice-takes-off/

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