MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WHNT) — The State Board of Education said districts are seeing fewer students in the classroom this year. It is the largest reduction in 40 years.
Because teaching jobs are tied to enrollment, leaders explained it could lead to staff reductions.
“The thing that’s most interesting to me is that this is an across-the-state reduction,” said Alabama State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey.
State board data shows 5,823 fewer students are attending public schools this year. Mackey said a large portion of those students–around 3,000–moved to private schools or homeschooling through the CHOOSE Act. It’s a tax credit students can use to pay for tuition.
The others, Mackey explained, are still being accounted for. He said some districts saw a large loss of Hispanic students. Additionally, he said some students might have gone homeschooled and neglected to unenroll. As a result, Mackey said around 500 teaching jobs could disappear next year.
“These will be absorbed in retirements,” Mackey said. “Ultimately, it does mean that there will be fewer teachers across the state because there will be places where a teacher retires and doesn’t get replaced.”
Republicans and Democrats have different takes on that reduction and how the CHOOSE Act-has affected enrollment.
“For whatever reasons, the parents think that that wasn’t a good fit for those students, and now they’re going to a school that is a better fit for them,” said state Rep. Susan DuBose, R-Hoover. “We should all be celebrating that opportunity.”
“We’ve already been having a teacher shortage–trying to get people into education,” said state Rep. Curtis Travis, D-Tuscaloosa. “I’m sure with the number of education units being lost, that’s not going to be handled.”
The Alabama Conference of Educators said leaders should be addressing the root cause of that shortage and why students are leaving in the first place.
“If they don’t do something, that’s going to continue to be the problem,” said Alabama Conference of Educators Executive Director Harley Phillips. “If they close that local school and the next school is 25 miles away, it’s guaranteed that those parents are not going to put those kids back in that public school.”
Mackey said there are 45,000 to 50,000 education professionals employed in the state.He said enrollment will be used to create next year’s budget.
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