Fearful of sending her two children back to school as the coronavirus pandemic raged in Mississippi, Angela Atkins decided to give virtual learning a chance this fall.Almost immediately, it was a struggle. Their district in Lafayette County didn맥스카지노�t offer live instruction to remote learners, and Atkins맥스카지노� fourth grader became frustrated with doing worksheets all day and missed interacting with teachers and peers. Her seventh grader didn맥스카지노�t receive the extra support he did at school through his special education plan 맥스카지노� and started getting failing grades.After nine weeks, Atkins switched to home schooling.맥스카지노�It got to the point where it felt like there was no other choice to make,맥스카지노� she said. 맥스카지노�I was worried for my kids맥스카지노� mental health.맥스카지노�By taking her children off the public school rolls, Atkins joined an exodus that one state schools chief has warned could become a national crisis. An analysis of data from 33 states obtained by Chalkbeat and The Associated Press shows that public K-12 enrollment this fall has dropped across those states by more than 500,000 students, or 2%, since the same time last year.That is a significant shift considering that enrollment overall in those states has typically gone up by around half a percent in recent years. And the decline is only likely to become more pronounced, as several large states have yet to release information. Chalkbeat and AP surveyed all 50 states, but 17 have not released comparable enrollment numbers yet.The data, which in many states is preliminary, offers the clearest picture yet of the pandemic맥스카지노�s devastating toll on public school enrollment 맥스카지노� a decline that could eventually have dire consequences for school budgets that are based on headcounts. But even more alarming, educators say, is that some of the students who left may not be in school at all. 맥스카지노�I would like to hope that many of them are from homes where their parents have taken responsibility on their own to provide for their education,맥스카지노� said Pedro Noguera, the dean of the University of Southern California맥스카지노�s Rossier School of Education, adding that affluent families will have an easier time doing that. 맥스카지노�My fear is that large numbers have simply gotten discouraged and given up.맥스카지노�So far, many states have held off on making school budget cuts in the face of enrollment declines. But if enrollment doesn't rise, funding will be hit.맥스카지노�We맥스카지노�ve been trying to scream from the hilltops for quite some time that this is happening,맥스카지노� Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota맥스카지노�s schools superintendent, said of the enrollment declines. 맥스카지노�And it could be a national crisis if we don맥스카지노�t put some elbow grease into it.맥스카지노�The declines are driven by a combination of factors brought on by the pandemic. Fewer parents enrolled their children in kindergarten, and some students left public schools for other learning environments. At the same time, students who are struggling to attend classes, as many are right now, may have been purged from public school rolls for missing many days in a row. That is a typical practice, though there is some more flexibility now.The Chalkbeat/AP analysis shows that a drop in kindergarten enrollment accounts for 30% of the total reduction across the 33 states 맥스카지노� making it one of the biggest drivers of the nationwide decline. Kindergarten is not required in over half of states, and many parents have chosen to skip it. Some aren맥스카지노�t sure it would be worth it for their children to learn virtually, while others don맥스카지노�t want their kids맥스카지노� first experience with school to include wearing a mask.It맥스카지노�s difficult to say how much of the decline is due to students leaving public schools for private schools and home schooling 맥스카지노� as parents sought learning environments that might adapt better to the unusual year 맥스카지노� because not all states track that. In states that do, those are contributing factors but don맥스카지노�t account for the full decline.Massachusetts, for example, saw its K-12 enrollment fall by 3%, or nearly 28,000. Almost half of that was attributable to a big jump in students being home-schooled or switching to private schools, but about 7,000 students still are unaccounted for, state officials said. The year before, the state맥스카지노�s enrollment declined by less than half a percent.Kira Freytag맥스카지노�s first grader, Landon, was among the Massachusetts students who transferred into a private school this fall. He was enrolled in public kindergarten in Newton this spring, but struggled with remote learning. When it looked like that virtual setup would continue, Freytag and her husband applied to a Catholic school with in-person instruction.맥스카지노�There맥스카지노�s a lot of independence that comes with those years,맥스카지노� Freytag said. 맥스카지노�It맥스카지노�s really hard to teach that over Zoom.맥스카지노�Some states have gone to great lengths to try to figure out where students are. When the schools superintendent in Mississippi, Carey Wright, saw that K-12 enrollment had plummeted by 4.8%, or nearly 22,000 students, she asked officials to track down every student who맥스카지노�d been enrolled the previous year. They mailed letters, placed calls and even made home visits.They found that kindergarten enrollment fell by 4,400 students and 6,700 more students enrolled in home schooling than usual 맥스카지노� an increase of 36%. More students than usual also moved out of state. And some 2,300 students transferred to private school. That left the state with around 1,100 students it could not account for, though it맥스카지노�s still trying.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맥스카지노�We could not afford to have kids just at home, doing nothing,맥스카지노� Wright said.Many states haven맥스카지노�t been able to track down all the students who left. Some students may be getting home-schooled, but their state doesn맥스카지노�t require families to register them. Some may have moved across state lines and haven맥스카지노�t transferred their records. Others may have stopped attending school because they are experiencing homelessness, lack a stable internet connection, are working to support their families or are caring for siblings 맥스카지노� and then were dropped from their district맥스카지노�s rolls.Renee Smith, who helps low-income families navigate school options through her work at the parent advocacy group Memphis Lift, said some families in her city have turned to Khan Academy, a source of free online lessons, as an alternative to the local district맥스카지노�s virtual learning option, but others 맥스카지노�have just disappeared.맥스카지노�One open question is whether students who exited the public school system will return when instruction gets closer to normal. Many educators believe young learners who sat out kindergarten will return, but they맥스카지노�re worried about older students.And many state superintendents and education advocates say there needs to be more done by school districts, state officials, and social service agencies to find the missing students.맥스카지노�The things which make the difference are not cheap,맥스카지노� said the Rev. Larry Simmons, who맥스카지노�s involved in an effort to reduce chronic absenteeism in Detroit. 맥스카지노�Human beings reaching out to other human beings, saying: 맥스카지노�We miss you, we want you at school.맥스카지노�맥스카지노�