Schools must improve to compete with school choice, says Texas superintendent facing enrollment crisis

A Dallas-area school district is cutting more than 500 jobs amid a budget crunch and declining enrollment, but the superintendent says more profound changes are needed.

The Mesquite Independent School District is slashing nearly 515 jobs – including more than 200 teachers – to close a $24 million budget shortfall. Staffing accounts for about 85% of the district’s expenses, but enrollment has dropped from nearly 41,000 students in 2017 to about 36,700.

Superintendent Ángel Rivera said staffing increased during that time, while the state changed its funding formula “to ensure that we’re maximizing taxpayer dollars,” leaving the district needing to restructure.

Rivera told CBS News Texas that Mesquite is also facing increased competition from private schools, charter schools, microschools, homeschools and even Alpha School, an AI-based learning system that is expanding nationwide. 

“There’s a lot of competition out there for parents to make a decision about where they want to put their children,” he said, noting the state’s new Education Freedom Accounts (EFA) are set to begin in the 2026 school year. “Back in the day, it was your local school. Now, there are options.” 

School choice is growing 

Through its new EFA program, Texas will fund scholarships of about $10,000 for as many as 100,000 students this fall to attend the school of their choice. Students with disabilities may receive up to $30,000, and homeschool students $2,000. The program is expected to grow in future years. 

In light of the changing dynamics, Rivera said what many in the education establishment have long opposed: Public schools need to change their model. 

“Absolutely, we do,” he told CBS. “We need to be more innovative. We need to explore options that we have never explored.” 

As the school choice program approaches – and a federal program is set to begin in 2027 – more public school districts are considering offering online or virtual courses for homeschoolers, as well as online and private school students who may want to take a specific class. 

In addition to eliminating about 8% of its teachers, Mesquite will cut 76 classroom aides and 52 “professional support positions,” along with other reductions, CBS reported. 

While Rivera said he does not expect further staff cuts, he said one change he would like to make is ending Carnegie units, a system for counting required credit hours, because they “dampen a little bit the innovation that can occur in a public school.” 

“If you take out the obstacles, the impediments and the restrictions on minutes, I think public schools will be able to compete a lot more,” Rivera said. 

Many microschools, homeschool co-ops and some private schools already embrace a more flexible approach to academic instruction and scheduling. 

School choice has grown dramatically in the U.S., particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 35 states having at least one program and about 1.3 million students participating in school choice programs in 2025.