California's ongoing drop in public school enrollment is steepest in LAUSD and L.A. County

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Schools in Los Angeles County and especially those in the L.A.Unified School District are seeing the steepest decline in enrollment in California, based on new state data posted Thursday.

Across California, enrollment dropped by 1.3% — about 75,000 students — over the last year, a percentage decline that is about average compared with 39 states that have so far released enrollment figures for the current school year.All 39 have recorded enrollment decreases, based on an analysis by the California Department of Education.

States with a larger percentage decline include Hawaii, New Hampshire and New York.“Declining school enrollment in California reflects the national trend,” said Elizabeth Sanders, a spokesperson for the state Department of Education.In addition, “the data shows that some California families are relocating to less expensive suburban communities like Elk Grove and Vacaville.”The statewide figures correlate to declining birth rates nationwide, although other factors are in play locally, including in Los Angeles County, such as housing costs, a decline in immigration and aggressive federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants.“There are some surprises in these data, but the decline itself shouldn’t be surprising,” said Thomas J.

Kane, director of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard.“Declining birth rates inevitably mean declining enrollment.

The size of the decline should be manageable — but only if schools adjust their plans now, rather than wait.”Typical ways of coping with declining enrollment including closing schools and reducing the number of employees.Both are painful measures for school communities and have been resisted in the Los Angeles Unified School District and elsewhere.

California Los Angeles County lost 54,000 residents from 2024 to 2025, driven by immigration restrictions and continued out-migration ...