Statewide Enrollment Changes

The population in Texas is growing, enrollment in Texas public schools is flat, and the implementation of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) will continue to impact enrollment. We are entering a new phase where families that want flexibility have new options, and traditional public schools are not always the choice that families make.

Traditional public schools have the ability to reverse this trend! We are exploring ways that we can support your district to increase its enrollment. Stay tuned for more on this.

In today's newsletter, we offer a deeper look at the changes that have occurred over the last 5 years offering 2 perspectives to learn more.

Perspective 1

Watch TSA Podcast: Enrollment Patterns in Texas Public Schools with Bob Templeton to learn more about the growth of of homeschooling and micro schools that is outpacing charter school growth. (Thank you to TSA for sharing this video with our membership.)

Perspective 2

Read Texas A&M University Private Enterprise Research Center's "Texas Traditional School Enrollment" report that studied PEIMS data from Fall 2019 to Fall 2024. Highlighted report results are also summarized below.

Traditional Public School (TPS) Enrollment Declines while Charter School Enrollment Increases

Total enrollment in traditional public and charter schools combined grew by 0.9% from 2019 to 2024.
However, the percent change for traditional public schools during this time period decreased by 1.0% while enrollment in charter schools grew by 29.4%.

Charter School Locations

Charter schools are mainly concentrated in the urban centers including Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi along with a concentration along the Texas-Mexico border. The Panhandle and areas west of Midland-Odessa also have a few charters.

Growing and Shrinking Districts

Of the 1,016 traditional public schools, 58% of them experienced a decline in enrollment totaling 314,902 students while 42% experienced growth of 263,979 students.

Districts Most Affected by Enrollment Loss or Growth

Enrollment Loss

Much of the enrollment decline in traditional public schools can be attributed to large losses in some of the state's biggest urban school districts.

Mid-sized and border districts also contributed significantly to the overall decline.

Enrollment Growth

Some districts are still experiencing growth. This report does not identify all of the reasons for the growth.

Join us at Membership Meeting during TASA Midwinter

Jan 26

Texas School Coalition Membership Meeting at TASA Midwinter 2026

Public education advocacy never ends even though the Texas Legislature meets every other year. We are already preparing for the 90th Legislative Session. How can you be most effective?

All members and sponsors of the TEXAS SCHOOL COALITION are invited to attend our membership meeting during TASA Midwinter 2026 to listen to capitol insiders share their experience with the legislative advocacy tactics that do and do not work in the Texas Capitol.

Executive Director Missy Bender will moderate a panel discussion of capitol insiders.

Free

We've moved

New address

The Texas School Coalition has a new mailing address. You may start to notice this new address on our print and digital materials.

Eanes ISD provided an office and staff support to the Coalition for the last 12 years. We are very grateful for all of the support and hospitality we received from the Eanes ISD team. Thank you!

Old Address

Texas School Coalition

601 Camp Craft Rd.

Austin, TX 78746

New Address

Texas School Coalition

6505 W. Park Blvd.

Suite 306, PMB #249

Plano, TX 75093