Only 24 percent of Americans are satisfied with the quality of public education, reports Gallup. Health-care affordability gets a higher rating.
Homeschooling soared during the pandemic, dipped when schools reopened and is now climbing again, writes Fordham's Amber Northern, who's been reading up on homeschool research in a special issue of the Journal of School Choice.
Before the pandemic, at the start of the 2019-20 school year, about 4 percent of students were homeschooled, estimates Angela R. Watson, director of Johns Hopkins' Homeschool Research Lab. It's now up to 6 percent.
Homeschooling rose by 39 percent in 2020-21, at the height of the pandemic disruptions, then declined by 3 percent in 2021-22 and another 7 percent in 2022-23. But then came the rebound. In the 2023–24 school year, homeschool participation rebounded, increasing by 4 percent over the prior year, Watson's data show.
Furthermore, homeschoolers are more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past.
Student safety may be "a primary factor driving the decision to homeschool," writes Northern, exceeding "moral/religious and academic concerns."
With school choice legislation passing in many states, including Education Savings Accounts, homeschooling is likely to continue to grow. Also on the rise are microschools, co-ops, hybrid schools and other "innovations that became go-to options during Covid and are still with us today," writes Northern.
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