Public School Woe
BevK November 26th, 2007
School choice takes its toll on a small school system in Montana. Well, at least this article makes it seem like homeschooling is part of the reason for declining enrollment in the Big Sandy school system.
The article ends with this:
This spring, just 21 seniors will graduate. In another three years, that number is expected to shrink to eight.
Optimism swells as class sizes begin to grow, starting with second grade. As she finishes her school lunch, Heppner watches the kindergarten class of 18 march outside for recess.
“When you watch the kindergartners file out of the cafeteria, that’s huge,” she said. “There goes our future.”
The article is full of the problems that declining enrollment has brought. Because they are a public school, they are required to offer students certain classes. Sometimes that means a teacher teaching one student. Remember that this is Montana, so the population isn’t huge to begin with.
This is really a lament for the passing of traditions. There are solutions to the problem, but none of them include maintaining the traditional structure. I think we’ll see more of this happening especially in sparsely populated areas.
