Fort Bend ISD has proposed closing seven of its schools—just a short time after Spring ISD decided to close two of its campuses. These closures are due primarily to declining enrollment rates, resulting in some schools operating below 50 percent capacity.
So why are these schools so empty? One of the primary reasons is a sharp increase in competition in the education sector.
Corey DeAngelis with the Educational Freedom Institute praised the development, saying: “This is a good thing—this is a feature, not a bug. It should lead leadership at the public schools to think about how they allocate their resources effectively.”
He says that as more options have become available to students in failing public schools, they’ve simply left—something any business in the free market also has to deal with. He added that this could even lead to huge savings for taxpayers, who will no longer have to subsidize failing schools.
But does that mean public schools will soon become a thing of the past? DeAngelis doesn’t think so. “Not all public schools are doomed to fail,” he explained. “If they’re doing a good job—if families are happy with them—if you like your public school, you can keep your public school.”
He added that school choice will really help with this as well, by allowing successful schools to get more resources and expand.