New Bedford
Massachusetts Attendance Recovery Stalls Below 1 Point
Three years ago, Massachusetts was making real progress on chronic absenteeism. The state cut 5.5 percentage points in a single year, the kind of improvement that made recovery feel inevitable. The ne...
Only 86 Kindergartners for Every 100 Seniors
In 1996, Massachusetts had 152 kindergartners for every 100 seniors. This fall, it has 87.
One in Four Massachusetts Districts at All-Time Enrollment Lows
North Adams peaked at 2,368 students in 1997. This fall, it enrolled 1,064. Hull has lost 55.5% of its students from peak. Sandwich has crossed below half its former size. These are not anomalies. In ...
One in 19 Massachusetts Students Now Attends a Charter School
The pandemic was supposed to be the great equalizer: every school in Massachusetts closed, every family improvised, every district lost students. It was not. Between 2019 and 2021, traditional public ...
Four Years of Recovery, Gone in One
Massachusetts spent four years clawing back from the pandemic. The state added 4,467 students between 2021 and 2025, a recovery so slow it barely registered against a loss of 37,363. Then 2025-26 arri...