(November 2019) More K-12 students are now enrolled in the Pulaski County school choice market than in the Little Rock School District, public records show.
An Arkansas Department of Education spokesperson provided current year (2019-2020) K-12 enrollment figures in response to a public information request:
Little Rock School District 21,472 students1
The school choice market includes students attending Pulaski County open-enrollment charter, private and home schools.
ADE records show there are 12,3952 students enrolled in Pulaski County charters. Another 9,3083 students attend county private schools, according to records published by the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association. ADE has not reported the number of home school students in the current school year, though its most recent report (2018-19) listed 2,160 in Pulaski County.4
The total (23,863) exceeds Little Rock School District enrollment (21,472).
Little Rock enrollment exceeded the school choice market in 2018-19.5
In economic terms, parental demand is the major factor behind expansion of the school choice market. The supply of options should expand to meet this demand.
–Greg Kaza
