New York City’s K-12 public schools have seen a 4 percent decline this school year, with about 43,000 students pulling out of the system, according to preliminary data released by the city’s education department. The preliminary data, released Wednesday, suggests that the sharpest decline of New York City’s enrollment occurred in non-mandatory early childhood grades. Enrollment for 3-K and pre-K students has so far dropped 8 percent and 13 percent, respectively. While NYC Public Schools remains the nation’s largest public school district, its total enrollment was brought down to 960,000 compared to 1.1 million students in the 2018-19 school year. According to education officials, there has been a decline in enrollment every year since 2016, but this year’s particularly sharp decline can be attributed to the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic. They also pointed to the shrinking birth rate in the city. The enrollment loss echoes a national trend, …