The coronavirus pandemic ushered in what may be the fastest rise in homeschooling the US has ever seen. Two years later, even after schools reopened and vaccines became widely available, many parents have chosen to continue to direct their children’s education.
Homeschooling rates have fallen this year from last year’s record, but are still significantly above pre-pandemic levels, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.
Families who may have switched to homeschooling as an alternative to hastily put together distance learning plans have stuck to the reasons for health concerns, disagreement with school policies, and a desire to preserve what has served their children. worked.
In 18 states that shared data by the current school year, the number of homeschooled students increased by 63% in the 2020-2021 school year and then decreased by just 17% in the 2021-2022 school year.
According to the US Census Bureau, about 3% of US students were homeschooled before the wave caused by the pandemic. Rising numbers have reduced enrollment in public schools in ways that affect future funding and renewed debates about how closely homeschooling should be regulated. What remains unknown is whether this year’s small decline is a step toward pre-pandemic levels or a sign that homeschooling is becoming more mainstream.
Linda McCarthy, a mother of two from suburban Buffalo, says her children will never go back to traditional school.
Unimpressed with the remote classes offered when schools abruptly closed in the spring of 2020, she began homeschooling her then fifth and seventh grades in the fall. McCarthy, who had worked as a teacher’s assistant, said she knew she could do better herself. She said her children thrive with classes tailored to their interests, learning styles, and schedules.
No more homework until the wee hours, no more tears because we couldn’t get things done, McCarthy said.
Once a relatively rare practice most often chosen for reasons related to religion education, homeschooling quickly grew in popularity after the turn of the century before stabilizing at about 3.3%, or about 2 million students, in the pre-pandemic years. according to the census. Surveys indicate dissatisfaction with neighborhood schools, concerns about the school environment and the appeal of customized education.
In the absence of federal guidelines, there is little uniformity in reporting obligations. Some states, including Connecticut and Nevada, require little or no information from parents, while New York, Massachusetts and a few others require parents to submit instructional plans and follow assessment rules.
The new surge in homeschooling has led state legislators across the country to consider measures to relax or impose new regulations on homeschooling families. The debates have been going on for years. Proponents of increased surveillance point to the possibility of undetected cases of child abuse and neglect, while others argue for less in the name of parental rights.
All 28 state education departments that provided homeschooling data to the AP reported that homeschooling peaked in 2020-21, when fears of infection kept many school buildings closed. Of the 18 states whose enrollment data includes the current school year, all but one of the states said homeschooling rates declined from the previous year but remained well above pre-pandemic levels. (The exception, South Dakota, has recently changed the way data is collected).
For example, Minnesota reported that 27,801 students are now homeschooled, compared to 30,955 during the past school year. Before the pandemic, homeschooling numbers were about 20,000 or less.
Many of the homeschool converts form black families. According to US Census surveys, the proportion of black families homeschooling their children increased fivefold, from 3.3% to 16.1%, from the spring of 2020 to the fall, while the proportion in other groups roughly doubled.
Raleigh, North Carolina, mother Laine Bradley said the failings of the school system became more apparent for families like hers when distance learning began.
I think a lot of black families realized that when we had to start distance learning, they realized exactly what was being taught. And a lot of it doesn’t involve us, said Bradley, who decided to homeschool her 7-, 10- and 11-year-old children. My kids have a lot of questions about different things. I’m like, ‘Didn’t you learn that in school?’ They are like, no.
Bradley, who works in the financial services industry, turned her dining room into a classroom and rearranged her work schedule to take over her children’s education, adding lessons on financial literacy, black history, and Caribbean history important to her heritage.
I can include things I think they should know, she said. Her husband Vince, who retired from the Air Force last year, sometimes intervenes. The couple also has a 14-month-old son. They plan to continue homeschooling for as long as their children want. Her social media posts about her experience have attracted so much interest that Bradley recently created an online community called Black Moms Do Homeschool to share resources and experiences.
Boston University researcher Andrew Bacher-Hicks said data showed that while the number of homeschoolers rose across the board over the past school year, the increase was greater in school districts that moved back to face-to-face learning, perhaps before some parents were ready to send their children back. to send .
He said the same health concerns that caused these increases are likely responsible for the continued increase in rates, despite additional turmoil in schools as parents and policymakers debate issues of race and gender and which books should be in libraries.
It’s really hard to tell those two things apart because this is all happening at the same time, he said. But my guess would be that a lot of the decisions to leave the system have to do with COVID-related issues as opposed to political issues, because those things are common and we’ve never seen a surge in homeschooling before. .
He said parents may also be concerned about the quality of education provided by schools that have had to rely heavily on replacement teachers amid pandemic-induced staff shortages.
McCarthy, the mother from a suburb of Buffalo, said it was a combination of everything, with the pandemic exacerbating doubts she already had about the public school system, including her philosophical disagreements over the need for vaccine and mask mandates and academic priorities. .
The pandemic, she said, was kind of the straw that broke the camels back, but the camels’ backs were probably already broken.
There are kids who don’t know basic English structure, but they want to force other things on kids, and it can be obvious, but it can, and usually is, very subtle, very, very subtle, McCarthy said. So we were ready to pull them and will never send them back to traditional school. It just doesn’t suit us. It’s just a whole new world that’s a much better world for us, she said.
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