California’s public schools are facing a crisis that runs deeper than just numbers. For the seventh year in a row, enrollment has declined. This year, there are more 12th graders than first graders — a nearly 20 percent difference that shows fewer kids are entering the educational system than graduating out of it.
At the same time, the number of students living in poverty or without stable housing is rising fast. Today, nearly one in five students in California now live in poverty. Homelessness among students just jumped nine percent in a single year.
In response to this crisis, school districts are downsizing, cutting staff, shutting down schools and trimming programs. This is not a viable solution to the declining enrollment and the increase in poverty and homelessness among California’s students. It is a surrender, and the ones paying the price are the students who need the most support.
At first glance, fewer students might sound like it would ease the burden on schools. With fewer students to teach and fewer classrooms to manage, this solution seems like it would be easier to handle. But, in reality, fewer students does not mean fewer needs, especially when more and more of those students are struggling to eat, find a place to sleep or even get to school at all. Downsizing means fewer resources available to meet growing challenges, not less demand for them.
When budgets shrink, the first things to go are often what is most essential for low-income and unhoused students: tutoring, afterschool programs, mental health counselors and food assistance. These forms of support are lifelines — and without them, kids fall behind.
Meanwhile, teachers are being stretched thinner than ever. Larger class sizes, fewer aides and no breathing room for burnout are becoming increasingly common. Downsizing as a response to low enrollment is a setup for failure, not just for teachers, but for the students they’re trying to reach. This information was recorded even before the second Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) proposed cuts to public services and funding to various programs. Not to mention, the gutting of the Department of Education is certain to have a disastrous impact on the public education system.
For marginalized communities that have long been underserved by public education, this is not just another hurdle. It is a gut punch that reinforces cycles of inequality. The massive gap between the number of students starting school and those finishing it is appalling. Families are leaving the state because they cannot afford to stay. Teachers are leaving because they can not afford to teach. Entire communities are being pushed out of public education — by rent, by burnout and by the sheer weight of trying to get by.
When schools close in already-struggling areas, it only makes life harder. Kids might have to travel farther, with fewer transportation options. Parents working multiple jobs lose one of the few stable parts of their child’s life — a form of childcare. It does not relieve pressure — it multiplies it.
Then, there’s the tempting myth floating around: “Well, if fewer kids are graduating, will it not be easier to get into the University of California (UC) schools?”
The answer is simply no. Sure, there are fewer applicants, and that could mean less competition. The children who make it through the downsized, under-resourced school systems will not be as prepared. They will not have had access to Advanced Placement (AP) classes, college counselors, test prep or even a stable home environment to study in, which is already bad enough as it is for impoverished schools in California.
Meanwhile, students from wealthier schools, such as charter or private schools, who still have those resources, will take those “open” spots for UC admissions. Downsizing and overpacking these impoverished schools with students experiencing financial or housing instability will further worsen the inequality gap in impoverished communities in accessing higher education, as these students will not receive the quality of education that should be available.
Admissions will not be about talent. They’ll be about privilege — more so than it already is — and it will be who has access to the opportunities that support them in succeeding in an increasingly uneven K–12 system. That is why equity is necessary, not just equality. Equality assumes every student starts from the same place, but equity recognizes that some kids are climbing uphill with a backpack full of bricks. It is not enough to open the doors to college — all students should have the support to walk through them.
However, there’s at least one bright spot on the map. UC Riverside (UCR) has recently started a residency program in partnership with the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Students training to become teachers can get their tuition covered, a stipend and guaranteed job placement if they commit to working in the school district after they graduate.
It is exactly the kind of thinking that’s needed: not walking away from public education, but doubling down on it. Training good teachers, keeping them in local public schools and building an educational system that serves every child, not just the ones who can afford to thrive.
The conversation around downsizing needs to shift. This is not about making tough decisions in tough times. It is about whether the state is willing to give up on the kids who need support the most. California’s public schools are more than buildings or budgets.
They’re communities, safe havens and places for kids with big dreams and few resources to achieve their goals. If the budget keeps being cut, schools will shrink alongside students’ futures. This is not just a numbers problem. It is a moral one. California must do better for every student struggling to stay afloat, every family deciding whether to move or to make it work and for every teacher trying to hold it all together with too little support.
It’s time to reinvest in the education system, not retreat from it. Bailing out the sinking ship of public education by throwing the kids overboard is not the answer because no one stays afloat for long.
Ask local school boards what they’re doing to support students, particularly low-income and homeless students. Push state leaders to fund schools based on student need, not just enrollment, and support teacher training programs like the one at UCR. But most of all, speak up because public education belongs to everyone, and it is a future worth fighting for.
