Iowa's public school enrollment drops

[ccharles000]

Enrollment in Iowa public schools this fall shrank for the 13th straight year, which signals less money for shrinking districts and more pressure on small ones to pool resources or merge.

State officials counted 474,277 in Iowa's 361 school districts. The number is down 2,792 from last year and more than 20,000 from a decade ago.

Enrollment in Iowa's public school districts peaked in 1972-73 at 645,000.

Nearly two-thirds of Iowa's districts - 234 - reported an enrollment decrease, most of them in rural areas where the population has shrunk. Cedar Rapids, which was devastated by flooding in 2008, lost 572 students. That was the biggest decline in the state.

More than 120 districts saw enrollment increases, with the largest jump in Ankeny which saw its numbers increase by 394 students to 8,342.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100108/NEWS02/100108011/Iowa-s-public-school-enrollment-drops