U.S. public school enrollment … has peaked!

In the second half of the 20th century, enrollment in U.S. public schools nearly doubled. There was some slowdown during desegregation as enrollment in private schools surged. However, growth resumed by the early 1980s at a little less than 2% each year. But by the late 1990s, the growth rate began to noticeably slow, eventually falling to under 0.5% annually. Public school enrollment peaked in 2019 at 50.8 million.

During the pandemic, parents pulled about 1.5 million children out of public schools.