Have Wisconsin parents been taking their kids out of public schools faster than in the past?

Enrollment in Wisconsin public school districts declined in the 2021-22 school year by 0.1%. But Department of Public Instruction officials say that mirrors pre-pandemic trends of slow but steady decline in public school enrollment — and in the number of school-aged children in Wisconsin — since 2013.

In the previous school year — during the height of the pandemic — many parents did remove their children from public schools. That 3% decline in 2020-21 was the largest single-year drop in 25 years. That year, many schools still had not reopened to in-person instruction. And the state saw a surge in enrollment in virtual charter schools, reflecting the larger trend towards remote instruction early in the pandemic.

More recently, in 2021-22, some students left public schools for private schools, which saw a 2% increase. During the same period, home-based enrollment decreased by 8%, after a 47% surge in 2020-21 during the start of the pandemic.