WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) – According to a Washington Post study, homeschooling has increased in every state examined since the 2017–2018 academic year as public school enrollment decreased.
The Post stated that in the last six school years, the number of children homeschooled rose by 51% in states with comparable enrollment numbers, while the number of students enrolled in private schools increased by 7%. In the same states, enrollment in public schools decreased by 4% over that time.
According to Nat Malkus, deputy director of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute, “This is a fundamental change of life, and it’s astonishing that it’s so persistent,” he told the Post.
“Policymakers should think, ‘Wow—this is a lot of kids,'” Elizabeth Bartholet, a Harvard Law School emeritus professor and child poverty advocate, told the Post.
In the 390 districts the Post examined, there was at least one home-schooled student for every ten students enrolled in public schools in the 2021–2022 school year. The Post reported that this roughly quadrupled the number of districts with that total in the 2017–2018 school year.
For example, the number of homeschooled students in New York has doubled since 2017 and is currently 52,000, according to the Post. In 24 of the 33 school districts in New York City, the number of homeschooled students grew by at least 200% in six years.
Over half of parents who’ve changed to homeschooling in recent years say they are worried about their kids being “influenced by liberal viewpoints.” Bipartisan support for school choice has been found in numerous surveys, with one recent poll from The Center Square Voters Voice finding that 51% of voters support the idea of school choice. Only 31% of respondents to the poll said they felt that taxpayer dollars should only go toward public schools.
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