Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Massachusetts Sees Decrease in Student Enrollment, Increase in Economically Disadvantaged Population

Earlier, I noted that the percentage of Economically Disadvantaged students in the Lynn Public School District increased 6.9 points from the 2019-20 school year to the 2020-21 school year. Economically disadvantaged is defined as student participation in one or more of the following state administered programs: 
  • the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
  • the Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC)
  • the Department of Children and Families' (DCF) foster care program
  • MassHealth (Medicaid)
Taking a look at the non-charter school districts in the state with the highest percentages of Economically Disadvantaged students this year, all of the top ten districts saw increases as well. 


2019-20
2020-21
Difference
 Springfield
77.6%
81.8%
4.2
 Holyoke
78.1%
81.4%
3.3
 Lawrence
70.7%
78.5%
7.8
 Southbridge
71.6%
77.2%
5.6
 New 
 Bedford
68.0%
74.0%
6.0
 Fall River
70.0%
73.8%
3.8
 Chelsea
63.9%
70.6%
6.7
 North Adams
61.9%
66.6%
4.7
 Fitchburg
61.9%
66.4%
4.5
 Brockton
57.5%
65.5%
8.0


Statewide, the percentage of Economically Disadvantaged students increased from 32.8% last year to 36.6% this year. In terms of pure numbers, this equates to the 333,829 Economically Disadvantaged students this year versus 310,873 in 2019-20. 


Data taken from: www.doe.mass.edu

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