Prekindergarten applications in D.C. have plunged this year, particularly at schools in immigrant neighborhoods and those with bilingual programs, a sign of how federal layoffs and the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown have affected families who once competed fiercely for lottery seats.
There were about 32,800 pre-K applications through D.C.’s public school lottery for the 2026-27 school year, a 14 percent decline from last year, according to newly released data from the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education. The drops were even steeper — nearly 25 percent — at Spanish-dominant dual-language programs and in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations, a Washington Post analysis of school-level lottery data found. Across all grades, the total number of applicants fell 6.5 percent.
The decline comes as the District absorbs blows to its population base: federal workforce reductions that have unsettled thousands of families, a sharp slowdown in immigration to the city and growing fear among immigrant communities over enforcement actions — all on top of a decade-long decrease in birth rates. Together, they appear to be thinning the pipeline of young children hoping to enter classrooms in the nation’s capital — a trend with direct consequences for a school system whose funding is based on how many students walk through the door.
