The Education Exchange: Public School Enrollment Is Declining. Is Universal Choice to Blame?

Lower birth rates, fewer immigrants much bigger factors

Photo of Patrick GraffPatrick Graff is a Senior Fellow with the American Federation for Children, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss Graff’s paper, “Declining Public School Enrollment and the Rise of Universal Private School Choice Programs,” which was presented at “School Choice: Impacts on Participants, Non-Participants, Educators, and Entrepreneurs,” a conference hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Program on Education Policy and Governance on May 7 and 8, 2026.

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