Between fall 2019 and fall 2023, public school enrollment fell from 50.8 million to 49.5 million, a loss of more than 1.2 million students, or 2.5%. The pandemic accelerated that decline, but enrollment was already falling in some grades and communities before COVID, and that trend is expected to continue: The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) projects overall enrollment will fall below 47 million by 2031.

Yet a FutureEd analysis based on data from NCES, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other sources, finds that enrollment trends vary widely by race, grade level, geography and schools. That variation offers important insight into how the education landscape is shifting, where the challenges are most acute and what it means for the future of the public school system.

When COVID struck and public schools switched to virtual learning, some families began educating their children at home; others opted for private schools, many of which resumed in-person learning sooner than public schools.

Though many families eventually returned, by fall 2022, an estimated 3.4% of American children were homeschooled, compared with 2.8% in fall 2019 — and advocates say the number continues to rise. Private school enrollment also grew, reaching roughly 7 million in 2021, an estimated 22% increase over pre-pandemic levels. Newly expanded school choice policies are likely to accelerate that shift: Sixteen states offer or intend to offer public funding for private school tuition to any student in the state. While these programs haven’t yet triggered a mass public school exodus, they are likely to reshape some family preferences and expand the supply of private alternatives.

Still, family choices aren’t the sole or even primary driver of the decline. The U.S. birthrate has fallen steadily for more than a decade and is now —at just under 1.6 — the lowest in history. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of children under 5 fell by 1.8 million nationwide, from 20.2 million to 18.4 million. That shrinking pipeline is now reaching classrooms.

Better social media is possible.

In his new book Move Slowly and Build Bridges, Robert W. Gehl tells the story of the activists, software developers, artists, and everyday people who have built the fediverse, a noncentralized alternative social media system. Unlike big tech corporations like Facebook, TikTok, or X, the fediverse is comprised of thousands of small, independent communities who use a Web protocol to communicate with one another.

These small communities govern themselves and moderate content at the human scale — compare that to Facebook and X, which try to moderate global conversations. And the fediverse isn’t built in order to gather user data and sell attention to marketers — it’s a more privacy-respecting social media alternative.

The most notable part of the fediverse is Mastodon. Founded in 2016, Mastodon was positioned as an alternative to Twitter. Like Twitter (or X), Mastodon members can post, like, share, and connect with one another across the world. Unlike Twitter/X, Mastodon can be completely under the control of its members, from how it’s run to its underlying software.

Making a noncentralized, ethically run social media system isn’t easy. The people building the fediverse have faced long hours, burnout, angry debates, and, worst of all, bigotry, death threats, and discrimination. They face constant, nagging doubts: Can we really do this? Can noncentralized social media survive in a world that is used to corporate social media? Can we—all of us—have our own social media?

As Move Slowly and Build Bridges shows us, the answer is yes, but it’s going to take a struggle.

Better social media is possible.

In his new book Move Slowly and Build Bridges, Robert W. Gehl tells the story of the activists, software developers, artists, and everyday people who have built the fediverse, a noncentralized alternative social media system. Unlike big tech corporations like Facebook, TikTok, or X, the fediverse is comprised of thousands of small, independent communities who use a Web protocol to communicate with one another.

These small communities govern themselves and moderate content at the human scale — compare that to Facebook and X, which try to moderate global conversations. And the fediverse isn’t built in order to gather user data and sell attention to marketers — it’s a more privacy-respecting social media alternative.

The most notable part of the fediverse is Mastodon. Founded in 2016, Mastodon was positioned as an alternative to Twitter. Like Twitter (or X), Mastodon members can post, like, share, and connect with one another across the world. Unlike Twitter/X, Mastodon can be completely under the control of its members, from how it’s run to its underlying software.

Making a noncentralized, ethically run social media system isn’t easy. The people building the fediverse have faced long hours, burnout, angry debates, and, worst of all, bigotry, death threats, and discrimination. They face constant, nagging doubts: Can we really do this? Can noncentralized social media survive in a world that is used to corporate social media? Can we—all of us—have our own social media?

As Move Slowly and Build Bridges shows us, the answer is yes, but it’s going to take a struggle.

Donald Trump placed the DC Metropolitan police department under federal control on Monday, deploying the national guard while describing a “lawless” city in ways that are sharply at odds with crime statistics reported by the police.

Invoking section 740, of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, the president vowed to allow police to “do whatever the hell they want” in the face of provocations. “That’s the only language they [alleged criminals] understand.

“They like to spit in the face of the police,” Trump said at the White House. “You spit, and we hit, and they get hit real hard.”

At his press conference, where reporters were squeezed into both aisles, Trump continued: “I don’t like being up here talking about how unsafe and how dirty and disgusting this once beautiful Capital was.”

He continued: “We’re declaring a public safety emergency in the District of Columbia and attorney general Pam Bondi is taking command of the Metropolitan police department as of this moment.

Well, I guess this'll make for good TV.