81: Houston’s Schools Face an Enrollment Paradox. What Now?

Like other urban districts around the country, Houston Independent School District (HISD) has seen enrollment drop significantly over the past decade. But while the district’s schools are under capacity overall, with an average campus utilization rate of 77%, some of its campuses are meanwhile facing a paradoxical challenge: overcrowding.

Bill King, co-author of a recent Center for Tax and Budget Policy report on disparities in HISD campus utilization, and Erin Baumgartner, director of the Houston Education Research Consortium at Rice’s Kinder Institute for Urban Policy, joined the “Baker Briefing” podcast to explore what’s causing the imbalance, how the state’s proposed school voucher legislation could factor in, and paths forward for HISD.

This conversation was recorded on March 18, 2025. Read the report from King and co-authors Joyce Beebe and John Diamond:

https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/disparities-houston-school-campus-utilization