Homeschooling is on its way to being mainstream — an idea that was unthinkable just 40 years ago as it was still illegal in many parts of the country.
Since 2018, the number of homeschooled kids has skyrocketed, with some states seeing over 100% growth, according to a new in-depth analysis by the Washington Post. While the total number of homeschoolers has decreased since its pandemic peak, the overall growth is still staggering when compared to pre-pandemic levels. This growth has defied many experts who predicted that most families would return to public schools after the mask mandates and pandemic lockdowns ended.
The Post collected data from 32 states plus Washington DC — a total of 7.000 school districts, representing over 60% of the country’s school-aged population.
Overall, homeschooling has increased 51% since the 2017-2018 school year; in that same time frame, private school only increased 7%. Public schooling, as a result, has seen a 4% decline in growth. The authors of the analysis estimate that there are between 1.9 and 2.7 million homeschooled kids today.
The truly exciting revelation is that this growth cuts across politics, geography, and demographics — rural, conservative towns as well as urban, liberal cities have seen a stark rise in homeschoolers in recent years.
“The number of home-schooled kids has increased 373 percent over the past six years in the small city of Anderson, S.C.; it also increased 358 percent in a school district in the Bronx,” reports The Post authors.
This growth cuts across politics, geography, and demographics — rural, conservative towns as well as urban, liberal cities have seen a stark rise in homeschoolers in recent years.
In fact, the homeschooling demographics have changed drastically: in 2019 three-quarters of homeschoolers were white. Now, less than half are. And the group is pretty evenly split between conservative and liberal ideology, a vast change from the pre-pandemic days when most homeschooling families identified as Republican.
“This is a fundamental change of life, and it’s astonishing that it’s so persistent,” Nat Malkus, a senior fellow and deputy director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative-leaning think tank told The Post. It’s especially astonishing, he remarked, because of the sacrifices parents have to make in order to homeschool.
“The personal costs to homeschooling are more than just tuition,” Malkus said. “They are a restructuring of the way your family works.”
Some experts, however, are looking at the numbers with concern — especially considering that many districts do not have strict regulations when it comes to homeschooling.
“Policymakers should think, ‘Wow — this is a lot of kids,’” Elizabeth Bartholet, an emeritus professor at Harvard Law School and child welfare advocate told The Post. “We should worry about whether they’re learning anything.”
Experiments in home education do carry some risks: there will inevitably be some parents who neglect their child’s education.
Experiments in home education do carry some risks: there will inevitably be some parents who neglect their child’s education.
But the same happens in some public schools, too.
The Nation’s Report Card, which looks at the overall education level in the country, often reports less than stellar statistics. This year, it reported that the long-term trend in both mathematics and reading among 13-year-olds has significantly decreased since 2020. Only 32 percent of fourth graders could read at or above a “proficient” level.
In specific districts, the numbers look even more dismal. Earlier this year, 23 Baltimore schools found that zero students were proficient in math.
There’s not a ton of data that measures the academic success of homeschoolers. However, the data that does exist often reveals that homeschooled kids perform higher than their public school peers on standardized tests.
In light of this, it’s great news that more families have the option and the resources to choose the education system they believe is best for their child.