The Arizona Department of Education released data that indicates a 3.3% drop in the number of students in both virtual and brick-and-mortar classrooms over the past year. That’s more than 38,500 kids who have essentially evaporated from the Arizona education system.

Early education saw the largest reduction in numbers — more than 40% of those “disappeared” students were preschoolers and kindergarteners. On the other hand, grades eight-through-12 saw a slight increase in student numbers.

There’s a lot of speculation as to the causes of the drop. The Show spoke with Arizona Republic reporter Mary Jo Pitzl to break it all down.

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