In recent years, two-thirds of America's public schools have lost students.

And now, as more states roll out or expand private school voucher programs, many public school districts are fighting to hold on,

trying new ways to recruit families and keep their schools open.

In Arizona, the national model for school vouchers, families there typically get $7,500 per child through the state's

fast-growing school choice program. But critics warn those dollars come at a cost,

diverting critical funding from already struggling public schools. Laura Meckler is a national

education reporter for The Washington Post. She's been reporting on this and joins us now.

Laura, thanks for being with us. So since 2019, two-thirds of traditional public schools have lost

students, lost enrollment, and that trend is accelerating. I was shocked when I read that number.

What accounts for it? Well, there's a lot of things that are behind the enrollment drops.

I mean, some of it's demographics in certain places and some of it is school choice.

There are in certain states in particular. Arizona is definitely one of them. There is more and more competition for the same number of students.

And your recent reporting focuses on Arizona, which has a number of alternative options. They have a robust

charter school system. There's tax money for homeschooling, expansive private school vouchers,

which are available to all families regardless of income. How does it all work?

Yeah, I mean, there is really a philosophy underlying all of this, which is that, you know,

schools should be subject

to the same sort of marketplace forces that are at work when we're choosing other things

that are important in our lives and that public schools should not have monopoly on public

funds or on students. And so in Arizona, they're really pushing this pretty far. So there is a

robust, as you said, a robust charter school

option, and we kind of know how those work. You can actually transfer to a different public school

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