Homeschooling Still On The Rise Despite Public Schools Reopening
Despite most public schools now fully reopened, more parents are pulling their children from school in favor of homeschooling.
Homeschooling has been increasing in popularity for years. Even before the pandemic parents were choosing to educate children at home due to many factors. Plenty of news outlets, schools, and politicians blame the pandemic for the current state of the public education system, but in truth, school shutdowns didn’t cause as much damage as bad policies, and when the lockdowns went into effect, these issues became more apparent. The Associated Press just released a report showing how popular homeschooling has become, as the at-home method saw an increase of 63%.
For years now, public schools have been failing students. Before the pandemic — on both coasts — students were failing tests and struggling across the board. With some districts’ attacks on traditional subjects like math, English, and writing, students received mixed messaging and were unable to make the grade. Add in the ever-increasing insertion of identity politics into classrooms, and studies have shifted in many cities. Instead of teaching kindergartners their ABCs and 123s, many teachers have decided to focus on the LGBTQs. Parents are not happy with the results, which are devastating. Children are not only failing at rapid rates, but they are also more confused about biology and scientific fact than ever. To combat all of this, many families have taken the initiative and turned to homeschooling.
In 1999 there were less than 1 million students being homeschooled in the United States. Roughly 850,000 children were being educated at home. That number increased to over 1.6 million by 2016. Then the political divide started to grow deeper. About 2.5 million children were being homeschooled by 2019. Then, in 2020, parents had to choose between allowing failing schools to teach their children online at home, or just do it themselves. During the 2020-2021 school year, homeschooling increased by 63%.
As schools started re-opening, many public school supporters assumed that these students would eventually return to traditional public school classrooms, but in fact homeschooling only dropped about 17% for the 2021-2022 school year. There are at least 3.7 million students now being homeschooled, and those numbers don’t seem to be dropping any time soon. What was once seen as a drastic educational option has now proven to be more time and cost-effective than what any department of education can organize using taxpayer money. The stereotype that homeschooling is only for “white people” or that it’s “expensive” is also currently being debunked as low-income households and minorities have realized just how easy it is to teach children without government interference and political agendas slowing down the learning process.
On average, public schools spend over $10 thousand per student, while homeschoolers spend roughly between $500 and $1,000 per student, yet homeschooled children are learning more with less study time, winning spelling bees, scholarships, and finding success as adults. So it’s no wonder public schools are seeing record drops in enrollment.
Homeschoolers are doing more with less. Many parents who were forced to teach at home during the pandemic learned just how easy it is to teach children when you can offer them individualized lessons and one-on-one encouragement. A lot of families learned the value of being able to impart their personal understanding and beliefs as well. In truth, the pandemic isn’t what ruined the public education system; it merely displayed the truth about the inefficiencies of the current system and gave parents the encouragement they needed to start homeschooling. The effects are long-lasting and not likely to be forgotten any time soon.
