K-12 IMPLOSION UPDATE: Plunge in English language learners foreshadows Connecticut school enrollment crisis.

For more than a decade, Connecticut’s English Language Learner (ELL) student population has acted as a critical buffer, masking a broader, underlying decline in overall public school enrollment. That period has officially ended, delivering a fiscal one-two punch that towns across the state have been dreading.

For the first time in over a decade, the number of ELL students statewide has dropped significantly, declining by over 2,000 students from 57,055 to 54,915 this year.

Many are attributing this decline to families’ fears of immigration enforcement. Others say it is due to a shortage of housing, school choice and repeal of the religious immunization exception.

Overall public school enrollment in Connecticut is falling and the recent decline in English language learners will only accelerate this trend.

At least one county in Florida has a similar problem, but it doesn’t seem to be related to illegals: “The potential for school closures underscores the difficult crosscurrents buffeting the district, as families opt for private school using the state’s generous voucher program and nonprofit charter schools seek space in underused campuses.”