The number of students in America’s public schools is shrinking. In some cases, the declines have been so drastic that districts are facing empty classrooms, painful budget cuts and angry debates about whether to close schools.Sarah Mervosh, an education reporter at The New York Times, discusses what the enrollment crisis looks like, why it’s happening and how one school district hopes to fix it.Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/sarah-mervosh" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sarah Mervosh</a>, an education reporter at The New York Times.Background reading:&nbsp;<ul><li>American schools are facing a crisis as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/08/upshot/public-schools-enrollment-crisis.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the number of children drops.</a></li><li>Why U.S. test scores are in a “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/13/upshot/test-scores-school-districts-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">generation-long decline</a>.”</li></ul>Photo: Erin Schaff/The New York TimesFor more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.&nbsp;
For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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