school-choice
CREC Doubled While Hartford Emptied
CREC magnet enrollment grew 96% since 2011 under the Sheff desegregation ruling while Hartford lost 27% of its students and dropped from largest to fourth-largest district.
Connecticut Education News & Data
district-spotlight
Hartford's 28% Chronic Absence Was Already a Crisis Before COVID
Hartford School District's chronic absenteeism rate never dropped below 22% in nine years of data — the pre-COVID baseline reveals a structural attendance emergency that the pandemic only amplified.
demographics
The Majority-Minority Wave Reaches the Suburbs
Nearly one in three Connecticut districts is now majority-minority, double the rate in 2011. The shift has moved from cities to inner suburbs.
chronic_absenteeism
Half of Connecticut Districts Hit All-Time High Chronic Absenteeism — Before the Real Crisis
In the COVID-shortened 2019-20 school year, 78 of 187 Connecticut districts hit their worst-ever chronic absenteeism rates — a preview of the spike to 23.7% that would come two years later.
district-spotlight
Danbury Grew 7% While Connecticut Shrank
Immigration powered Danbury to buck a statewide enrollment collapse, but a 506-student drop in 2025-26 signals the growth engine may be stalling.
enrollment
Connecticut Lost 10,640 Students in a Single Year
Connecticut's 2025-26 enrollment dropped 2.1%, the largest non-COVID decline since 2007. First grade alone lost 4,322 students as the 2024 rebound proved a mirage.
special-populations
Connecticut's English Learners Nearly Doubled, Then Vanished
EL enrollment grew 80.5% over 15 years while CT lost 66,739 students. In 2025-26, 2,157 English learners disappeared from the rolls, the largest non-COVID drop on record.
grade-shift
One in Five Kindergartners Gone
Connecticut kindergarten enrollment has fallen 21% since 2011, losing 8,431 students. First grade is down 25%. The pipeline feeding the state's schools is collapsing from the bottom up.
demographics
Connecticut Lost 124,518 White Students in 15 Years
White enrollment fell 35.9% since 2011, transforming suburbs like East Haven and South Windsor from 75% white to below 50%. Fifteen districts crossed the majority-minority threshold.
district-spotlight
Hartford Lost One in Four Students, and Its #1 Ranking
Hartford dropped from Connecticut's largest district to fourth in 15 years, losing 5,802 students as CREC magnets nearly doubled and kindergarten enrollment was cut in half.
enrollment
Connecticut Falls Below 500,000 Students for First Time in a Generation
Connecticut's public school enrollment dropped to 497,760 in 2025-26, crossing below 500,000 for the first time since the early 2000s after a brief and puzzling one-year reprieve.
enrollment
Connecticut Publishes 2025-26 Enrollment Data
CSDE releases 2025-26 enrollment data showing 497,760 students statewide — down 10,640, the largest loss since 2007.