In 2023, nearly 10 million children were homeschooled, according to The Washington Examiner. This represents a 51% increase during the past six school years and exceeds the 7% increase that had been recorded in private school enrollment. Public school enrollment is expected to drop by 2.7 million between 2022 and 2031, in part due to increased homeschooling.
Homeschooling allows parents or guardians to take primary responsibility for educating their children instead of sending them to school. Parents act as teachers and guide children through the curriculum as well as ensure they learn all the educational material corresponding to their age.
The increasing popularity of homeschooling was first driven by the pandemic that forced parents to teach their children at home. Now parents are opting out of traditional schooling due to threats such as school shootings, bullying and other forms of harassment; the preference for a more customized learning experience; increased flexibility and control; religious reasons; dissatisfaction with the education of students with disabilities, including psychological or behavioral problems; and concerns about so-called “woke” policies that focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, restorative, justice, social-emotional learning, gender identity, or culturally affirming/relevant issues.
A 2023 survey by The Washington Post and George Mason University, which polled a total of 1,027 parents with children aged 5 to 20, asked why they homeschooled them. Forty-six percent said they did so because “local schools are too influenced by leftist views.”
The Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy’s Homeschool Research Lab collected data from state departments of education for the 2023-2024 academic year. The report noted that only 30 states keep track of their homeschooling participation numbers. According to the lab, 90% of the states reported increases in homeschooling for the new year. Only two states (Vermont and New Hampshire) showed a decline in homeschooling.
The Washington Examiner
