Following its steepest enrollment drop in two decades in 2020, the district has experienced a net loss of almost 25,000 students since the start of the pandemic.
The district did see an uptick in the number of new students it enrolled this fall, but that was not large enough to offset a growing number of students leaving Chicago Public Schools - more than 53,700 since last fall. Miami-Dade reports an enrollment of only about 1,000 fewer students than Chicago this school year. With a total enrollment of 330,411 students, the district appears poised to hold on to the title of the country’s third largest - but just barely. CHICAGO - Reporting declines among all racial groups and a spike in students decamping for private schools, Chicago Public Schools shrank by another roughly 10,000 students this fall, or about 3 percent of its student body.
