Nov 2010 comment about education data

The latest annual decrease could translate into the district missing out on as much as $9.4 million in state and local revenue this school year, given that school district budgets are mostly built based on student enrollment. "Our budget is based on enrollment," said Steve Steel, president of the Toledo Board of Education. "If we lose a few students here and there it doesn't reduce our cost, but it decreases our revenue." TPS receives about $5,732 for each student from state and local funds, according to Dan Romano, the district's treasurer.

<p>And since the 1998-99 school year, 12,269 students have left the district, which reflects an average loss of more than 1,100 students annually. The drop in student population over the past 11 school years is about equal to the total number of students currently enrolled in Toledo public elementary schools alone.</p>

<p>It's a drop that local school officials are attributing to a combination of factors: the declining population of Toledo, the expansion of the Ohio Educational Choice scholarship program, and more families selecting charter schools over public schools.</p>

<p>According to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city of Toledo has lost nearly 16,000 residents since 1998. Some of those Toledoans have gone to surrounding suburbs, others have moved out of the region or state, a trend that has been occurring for more than three decades.</p>

That trend has also affected the number of students enrolled in the Diocese of Toledo's metro area Catholic schools. Since the 1998-99 school year, they have lost 3,600 students - from 11,420 to 7,814 for this school year.