Miami-Dade’s public schools are shrinking. There are some well-known reasons for that: families having fewer children or leaving the county. But it’s also clear that increased competition from other education options also plays a key role in the loss of 90,000 students attending traditional schools since 2012
For the advocates of Florida’s school choice programs, the dwindling public school numbers offer some validation: When given the option, many parents opt out of their neighborhood school and send their children to a different public school, a charter or a private school on a state-funded voucher because they think their children will get a better or more specialized education at a school beyond the usual boundaries. That makes sense.
But one point gets less attention: the students who are left behind in shrinking public school districts, especially those from less affluent homes with parents who are less involved and perhaps likely to shop around for different options…