School districts struggling with enrollment loss are hiring consultants to recruit students, as parents are choosing alternatives to public schools - including homeschooling and private schools - according to a new report.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that schools in "Orlando, Newark, Memphis and dozens of other cities and towns have hired consultants who aggressively woo parents to convince them to enroll their children in local public schools."
"Brian J. Stephens has built a business around this new reality. Mr. Stephens, a political consultant based in Memphis, runs Caissa K12, a consulting firm for public school districts with the tag line 'We recruit students,'" the report added.
Public schools lose financial support when students choose alternative education options because per-pupil enrollment figures often determine state and federal funding. According to the Times, some districts are considering consolidating and rezoning schools. Orange County, Florida, which has projected a 25 percent drop in district kindergarten enrollment this fall, enlisted Caissa K12's services to help it recruit back families tempted by other options.
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The firm amassed over 100 district clients, the Times reported. The authors cited federal data showing that two-thirds of traditional public schools lost enrollment between 2019-2023.
Fox News Digital previously reported on several other states following Arizona in passing universal school choice legislation, responding to the trend of parents seeking alternative options to traditional public schools. The legislation is introducing competition into the education landscape as parents have options outside the neighborhood school their child is zoned for, placing challenges on school districts that are struggling to retain students.
Stephens, the lead architect of recruitment strategies for public schools, told the Times that school districts must prove to parents that they are better than alternative education models such as homeschooling and private schools.
"The monopoly is over," Stephens told the Times.
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Caissa K12's recruitment efforts entail setting up canvassers across Orange County to speak to parents. Their staff urge parents to visit public schools and address any "misconceptions about the superiority of private education."
"Caroline Christian, a 25-year-old with a degree in marketing, set up a table at a Boys and Girls Club after-school program. Destiny Arnold, a former police officer, looked for garden apartments with children's bikes parked out front. The team also visited a homeless shelter and a church preschool," the Times reported.
The report went on to say, "They gave parents fliers advertising the district's arts and career-education programs. They also asked parents for their phone numbers. Caissa staff members, who can earn performance bonuses, might contact a parent 10, 20, even 30 times to prompt them to complete school-enrollment paperwork."
There has been an uptick in parents choosing to homeschool their children since the coronavirus pandemic, indicating a growing trend of parents overlooking public schools. While microschools are not a new concept, they operate similarly to homeschooling.
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After Arizona launched its $800 million universal school choice program giving parents $7,000 to put toward their child's education expenses, Tucson Unified School District has reportedly recently faced financial and enrollment struggles - citing losses of $20 million as parents overlooked the district.
The Trump administration instituted a federal tax credit scholarship, giving individuals all across the country an opportunity to support school choice programs within their state, circumventing anti-school choice measures.
School choice advocate, Corey DeAngelis of the American Culture Project, told Fox News Digital that "this new recruitment strategy by the public school system shows that school choice works."
"The school system actually has to compete for its customers now that families can vote with their feet," he said.
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"School choice is just the beginning. It's time to give teachers unions the same incentive to shift their focus towards the basics as opposed to political agendas. Teachers in every state can now opt out of their union dues and get free liability insurance by joining the Teacher Freedom Alliance."
Education policy analyst Jason Bedrick of the Heritage Foundation said that the school district's move to hire consultants is a "good sign."
"As parents increasingly have a variety of education options for their children, district schools are learning that they cannot to take families for granted. If district schools want to compete, they'll have to do more to meet the needs of the families they serve," Bedrick said.
