More parents in Cambridge, Newton and Brookline are sending their kids to private school

State data from three relatively wealthy Massachusetts cities show a drop in public school enrollment over the last decade.

Boston Globe correspondent Kara Miller specifically looked at Cambridge, Newton and Brookline, which have highly rated public schools.

Miller joined WBUR's Radio Boston to discuss why some parents in these suburbs opt for private education instead and how this trend could affect public schools in the long-term.

Highlights have been edited for length and clarity.

What's happening to private school enrollment in Brookline, Newton and Cambridge?

"I think what was striking to me is that what you've seen in terms of the uptick in the percentage of people in those towns sending their kids to private school is that this is not a generational shift ... This is the difference between the fall of 2014, which was about 10 years ago, to the fall of 2023.

"And in that time you see in Newton, [enrollment in private schools] went from a little bit under 18% in 2014 to over 22% now. But if you look at the high school, it's hitting almost 25% of kids are in private school. In Brookline, in those 10 years, it went from about 13% to almost 19% [enrolled in private school.] And in Cambridge, it went from under 16% to well over 23%. So these are pretty big shifts."

What does this look like in the schools themselves?

"Well, I think one thing that's important to underscore is at the same time we see Massachusetts has one of the lowest birth rates in the nation, fourth or fifth lowest in the country. And so a higher chunk of people are like choosing private school for their kids, but at the same time, the number of people under 18 in Massachusetts has shrunk. I think between 2010 and 2020, it shrunk by 17%. That's not a small number, that is a big chunk of people, kids who are just no longer there.

"Honestly, competition for kids, whether you run a public school, a private school, a camp, a tutoring center, I don't care what you run, if those slots are filled with people under 18, there's just fewer of them around.

"And so there is and is going to be increased competition to get those kids. Because over time, you're going to see school buildings close. You're going to see consolidation. You may see fewer teachers on staff."

What are some of the reasons you're hearing that parents pulling their kids out of public schools?

"First of all, to leave a public school and go to a private school, you have to have the desire to leave, you have to have the opportunity to leave, and you have to have the means to leave.

"Let's talk a little bit about desire to leave. I definitely think COVID was a real driving factor, no question about it.

"People probably remember spring of 2020 every school was was shut down at least physically, but many private schools went back physically in September of 2020. Some public schools did, but many public schools did not. And I do think that as parents grew frustrated over that situation. There were people who left and went to private school.

"Another thing in that bucket of desire is there's sort of two academic things on two different ends. I talked to a consultant who advises people who are interested in going to private school, and she said there's been a real uptick since COVID in the number of kids who need organizational help, sort of like executive function help. They have anxiety and it might be hard for them to function in a very large school where maybe they get the help they need, maybe they don't. But private schools have staffed up with this sort of thing.

"The other group is almost on the other end educationally. They're the people who are way ahead in their math class, their English class, whatever. ... The last few year there've been these very contentious debates over should we get rid of honors math, honors English. And in many places, um, they've either gotten rid of those things or they've started to chip away at them. And so you've got more accelerated kids whose parents are upset and didn't like that."

What impact is this having on public schools ability to recover from COVID crisis days?

"It affects public schools in a couple of ways, but one of them certainly is that it may pull away a bunch of parents who normally would have donated to the public school, but their kid's not there anymore. And so you may be losing some of the people who would have been monetarily, or just in terms of passion, the people who would have contributed a lot that public school community."