Private school enrollment jumps 25 percent in Washington as exodus from public schools continues

Homeschooling saw a 42 percent increase as public school enrollment continued to fall.

ADVERTISEMENT

Homeschooling saw a 42 percent increase as public school enrollment continued to fall.

Image
Ari Hoffman Seattle WA
ADVERTISEMENT
Washington private schools saw a 25 percent jump in enrollment over the last three years and homeschooling saw a 42 percent increase as public school enrollment continued to fall.

According to the State Board of Education, in 2019-20, there were 65,270 students enrolled in K-12 private schools in the state. By 2022-23, that number had spiked to 81,434 students.



Additionally, the number of students that are homeschooled also increased from 20,844 in 2019-20 to 29,798 in 2022-23.

According to Liv Finne at the Washington Policy Center, “The numbers show that over 110,000 parents in Washington state have decided that enrolling in controversial public schools is not the best option for their children.”

A nationwide data analysis performed by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), the nation’s “report card,” showed that only 35 percent of Washington's 4th graders are proficient in math with 74 percent testing at a basic level for the 2022-23 school year.

The numbers got worse the older the students got with only 28 percent of 8th graders showing proficiency in math and 64 percent showing only a basic knowledge of the material.

The analysis also revealed that students in the Evergreen State lost over five months (-0.65 grade equivalents) of learning in math, while in Washington's largest district Seattle Public Schools, students were down four and a half months of learning (-0.50 grade equivalent).

Democrat Governor Jay Inslee, State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, and teachers’ unions kept public schools shuttered for in-person learning for more than a year in their response to COVID. Public schools did not welcome back students until the fall of 2021 and were regularly closed for “outbreaks.”

By comparison, private schools reopened a year earlier in the fall of 2020.

Rather than deal with the learning loss which was already evident just a few months into online learning, in May 2021, Inslee signed SB 5044 to force Critical Race Theory (CRT),  including hyper-sexualized gender theory into the classrooms and universities.

Additionally, many schools have begun removing higher-level learning programs including advanced placement courses for more advanced students.

Adding to the many reasons parents are pulling their children is violence in the schools after districts like Seattle and Bellevue banned police officers from campuses.

Washington public schools are getting more desperate for enrollment, as student counts are tied to federal dollars, and have been running ads in various markets trying to get students to return.



Due to the massive loss of students, some districts including Seattle and Bellevue have already announced that some schools will be closed.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Sign in to comment

Comments

Powered by The Post Millennial CMS™ Comments

Join and support independent free thinkers!

We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.

Support The Post Millennial

Remind me next month

To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy
ADVERTISEMENT
© 2024 The Post Millennial, Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell My Personal Information