Comparing Massachusetts' Public School Enrollment: 1993 versus 2018

Currently, the Massachusetts State Legislature is set to revisit discussion around the public school funding formula which was initially implemented with the Education Reform Act of 1993. In 25 years, aside from minor changes, the funding formula has remained largely unchanged despite a significantly different educational and financial environment than the one that existed a quarter century ago. Additionally, in that time, the state's student population has changed as well.

First, the public K-12 student population has increased 8%. The state's largest five districts in 1993-94 were Boston, Springfield, Worcester, New Bedford and Lowell representing 15.8% of the state's school population; Brockton and Lynn have since replace the latter two districts rounding out a group that now represents 14% of state public school enrollment.

Second, the percentage of Hispanic/Latino students has increased 12 points and the Asian student population 4.3.

More importantly, however, the percentage of English Language Learners has doubled in the past 25 years. (Note: The metric for defining low income/economically disadvantaged has changed in recent years such that it is not possible to make a historical comparison).

Boston, the state's largest district, has also seen shifts in the past two decades. Most notably, the African American/Black population has declined while the Hispanic/Latino population has nearly doubled.

Similar to the state overall, Boston has also seen an increase in the English Language Learner population.

In 1993-94, there were 63,738 students enrolled in the Boston Public School District; this year enrollment is 51,443.

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For more information on the Massachusetts Chapter 70 Funding Formula:

• Demystifying the Chapter 70 Funding Formula: How the Massachusetts Education Funding System Works
• Public School Funding in Massachusetts: Where We Are, What Has Changed, and How We Compare to Other States

For more on the proposed PROMISE Act: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/SD101


Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has also put forth a proposal to make changes to way that the state funds its public schools.

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Source: www.doe.mass.edu

Latest DESE Reports Reveal Important Stats Re: Massachusetts' Largest School Districts

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently released the enrollment figures for the 2018-2019 school year (as of October 1, 2018). The five largest districts in terms of overall enrollment - Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Brockton, and Lynn - represent 14% of the state's public school enrollment.

Naturally, the Boston Public School district has the highest enrollment in the state at 51,443. In the last five years, however, enrollment has been declining, decreasing 5% since the 2014-2015 school year.

In addition to a declining enrollment, BPS has seen other changes to its student population.

The number of students overall has decreased overall but the proportion of First Language not English, English Language Learner, Students with Disabilities, and Economically Disadvantaged has increased since 2014. For example, in 2014-2015 there were approximately 26,776 economically disadvantaged students; in 2018-2019, that number had increased to 29,065.

Springfield and Brockton also noted a decline in their district student population in the last year (minus about 300 for both) while Worcester reported an increase of 109 and Lynn 234.

In terms of selected populations, the percentage of English Language Learners in Worcester, Springfield, Lynn and Brockton ranged from 25% to 32.8%. One of the most surprising stats was the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in Springfield.

Since 2014, the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in Springfield has been over 65% but the percentage increased 7 points from 2015-16 to 2016-17 and another 3 points the following school year; Holyoke is the only non-charter school district with a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students (the other districts noted here had percentages in the 50's). The current proportion of economically disadvantaged is equivalent to approximately 19,403 students. Additionally, nearly a quarter of the Springfield district population are students with disabilities.

For more information:

• Enrollment by Grade Report
• Selected Population Report

Source: www.doe.mass.edu