Public Schools Hemorrhage Students as Boom in Homeschooling Continues

The mass exodus of children opting out of the public school system—believed by many to have only been a temporary reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic—continues to gain momentum as record numbers of parents choose to keep their children’s education in the family.

Sandra Kim, director of media relations for the Home School Legal Defense Association, told The Epoch Times that despite the public schools having returned to in-school learning, interest in homeschooling has continued to grow.

“We are definitely seeing many more calls about how to start homeschooling and how to withdraw from public school,” said Ms. Kim, whose organization aids homeschooling families nationally through legal representation. “A lot of parents saw the benefits of learning from home during the pandemic, and now a lot more people have become open to the idea.

“Once people see that homeschooled children do just as well, usually better, than their public school peers, the decision for many families is not that difficult,” Ms. Kim added.

Census Bureau data showed that 11.1 percent of K-12 students were independently homeschooled in the fall of 2020, an increase from 5.4 percent that spring. Conversely, public school enrollment fell 3 percent between 2019 and 2020, with many families withdrawing children from public education and signing them up for educational alternatives.

As schools re-opened post-pandemic, public school enrollment did not rebound, remaining flat in the fall of the 2021-2022 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

State-level statistics for the 2022-23 school year showed the downward trend continuing, as the drop in public school attendance led many districts to cut staff or even close schools.

While other factors have led to the decrease in public education, according to a 2023 study by Thomas S. Dee of Stanford, the switch to homeschooling accounted for 26 percent of the 1.2 million decline in student enrollment at public schools nationwide for the 2021-2022 school year.

In Denver, Colorado, a sharp drop in the number of public students has led officials to propose the shuttering of schools, according to a recent proposal from the Denver Public Schools Board of Education.

“Due to the declining enrollment expected for at least five more years, the Board of Education believes it is necessary to consolidate and unify schools to maintain the financial viability of the district,” the board announced in a March statement.

Brian Eschbacher, an enrollment consultant and a former Denver public schools official, told the Guardian, “If anyone was holding out hope for a [post-COVID-19] bounceback [sic], we have put that to rest.”

Nationwide figures for the 2023 school year will not be released until 2024, but state-wide indicators show the popularity of homeschooling. Florida saw an increase of 37,000 students in the 2021–22 school year, larger than the previous 10 years of growth combined. The most recent data from the Texas Education Agency showed 29,765 students withdrew from public or private schools in the 2021–22 school year and switched to homeschooling.

Texas Homeschool Coalition Vice President of Policy and Engagement Jeremy Newman told First News at Four that assumptions that the reopening of classrooms would slow the growth of the homeschooling movement have been proven false.

“The theory was that by the next school year, it was going to be back down to pre-pandemic levels,” Newman told the news agency. “Well, that’s not what happened.”

‘More Educational Options’

Private and charter schools have also contributed to the chipping away of the public school system. The Cato Institute found that 55 percent of private schools had seen an increase in enrollment between the 2021–22 and 2022–23 school years.

Parents’ perceptions of public schools changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to school closures, health officials forcing children to wear masks, and parents discovering agenda-driven curricula not aligned with their values have all been reasons attributed to the downturn.

Meanwhile, public opinion about homeschooling continues to rise. A recent Rasmussen poll found that among parents whose children were attending school, 62 percent of respondents approved of homeschooling for children, including 27 percent who “strongly approve.” The poll also revealed that less than a third of Americans think the country’s public schools are doing a good or excellent job, with 31 percent of parents disapproving, including 7 percent who “strongly disapproved.”

Ms. Kim, who homeschools her own two children, told The Epoch Times that she expects the move away from the public education system to only grow stronger over time as increasing numbers of parents shed some of the stigmas attached to home education and see how it could be in the best interest of their children.

“There are so many more educational options today than ever before with parents able to personalize their needs,” said Ms. Kim. “People like the flexibility that many people have had in being able to work remotely, along with closer family ties and improved relationships between siblings.”