By LeiLani Cauthen
New pre-release data from the Learning Counsel’s 2019 survey reveals a stark reality for American schools: 58 percent of school leaders now identify students’ social and emotional needs as the greatest pressure they face. The same research shows that roughly 27 percent of students nationwide have left traditional public education for alternatives—private schools, charter schools, online schools, homeschooling, or hybrid approaches. In some states, such as California, attrition has reached about 30 percent, and in 2018 more than 100 districts reportedly lost over 15 percent of their enrollment. These shifts are often obscured in official governance reports that treat charter schools as if they were traditional public schools and that undercount the growth of homeschooling.
These trends point to a systemic pattern that can be described as a cascading failure: when one part of an interconnected system breaks down, other parts must compensate until they, too, begin to fail under the strain. We see this phenomenon in power grids, financial systems, and other complex infrastructures; education is now showing similar signs. At the macro level, educational systems that fail to prepare students for a technology-driven workforce contribute to long-term economic consequences—fewer stable jobs, reduced generational prosperity, and, in some communities, higher rates of homelessness, addiction, and crime. While such outcomes are complex and multi-causal, diminished educational outcomes are a clear contributing factor to social instability.
At the micro level, districts and schools are feeling intense pressure. A constant cycle of accountability demands has produced ever-more reporting and documentation. Academic standards are repeatedly revised, forcing continuous curriculum mapping and adaptation. Layered on top of that are expanding testing regimes that create anxiety for students, parents, and educators alike. Meanwhile, professional-grade digital curriculum and online learning environments have matured to the point that parents and students can access high-quality instruction outside the traditional classroom, accelerating disaggregation and alternative school choices.
The Learning Counsel’s 2019 Digital Transition Survey, which collected responses from 462 schools and districts, quantified several of these pressures. Respondents rated a list of institutional stresses on a 1–10 scale, with 10 being the highest. Key findings include:
45 percent rated “ever-changing academic and technical standards” as a high-pressure issue (8–10).
42 percent rated “increasing technology complexity” as a high-pressure issue (8–10).
35 percent rated “a sense of growing educational disequilibrium” as a high-pressure issue (8–10).
The largest districts were particularly likely to report severe concerns about student attrition to homeschool, charter, or private school options, often assigning these challenges a pressure rating of 9 or 10.
What stands out is how closely technology is tied to both the problem and the solution. On one hand, the rapid expansion of technology and ubiquitous access to information have outpaced human systems like education. Technology has enabled disintermediation: high-quality, individualized learning pathways are now possible outside traditional institutions, and families are aware of these options. On the other hand, technology also offers tools that can address many educational shortfalls if they are applied thoughtfully and at scale.
One machine or program can track millions of learners, analyze performance data, and deliver tailored recommendations and adaptive practice that would be impossible for a single teacher to manage manually. Conversely, teachers provide the human skills that machines cannot: empathy, social and emotional support, mentorship, and the ability to build community. The real challenge is reimagining the educator’s role so teachers can focus on their unique strengths—guiding students’ social and emotional development, fostering collaboration, and designing meaningful, hands-on learning experiences—while technology handles personalized content delivery and progress monitoring.
Current tinkering and incremental reform are valuable and often well-intended, but they fall short because they do not fully acknowledge the scope of technology’s capabilities or the broader economic and cultural shifts at play. Nearly every other industry has adopted true personalization at scale; education must do the same. That requires honest analysis of what technology can and cannot do, and what has not yet been applied effectively.
If technology is both the disruptor and the potential savior of education, then the path forward is clear: adopt individualized, technology-enabled learning pathways while retooling human roles around social and emotional expertise. In a transformed model of schooling, rich digital personalization would be complemented by hands-on, social learning experiences. Teachers’ raison d’être would be to weave humanity into technology-driven learning journeys—making screen-based instruction part of a broader cultural revival that prioritizes human connection, belonging, and purpose.
To address the cascading failures now visible across districts and schools, leaders must analyze the full sum of effects, identify the technological tools that remain unused, and implement systemic change that leverages technology to free teachers for the human work students most need.
About the Author
LeiLani Cauthen is CEO of the Learning Counsel and author of the book The Consumerization of Learning.