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There’s a big shift in our education landscape: the rise of homeschooling.
In part due to the pandemic and our current political climate, homeschooling today looks much different than homeschooling a decade ago.
A recent article in The Washington Post [[link removed]] highlighted the changing demographics of homeschooling in the United States. According to the article, the decision to homeschool is no longer solely rooted in traditional reasons, such as religious beliefs or dissatisfaction with local schools.
Why are families choosing to homeschool? A form of resistance.
“In households where respondents identified as Black or African American (Table 1), the proportion homeschooling increased by five times, from 3.3% (April 23-May 5) to 16.1% in the fall (Sept. 30-Oct. 12). The size of the increases for the other Race/Hispanic origin groups were not statistically different from one another.” (Casey Eggleston and Jason Fields, “ Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey Shows Significant Increase in Homeschooling Rates in Fall 2020 [[link removed]] ,” Census, March 2021)
For many Black families choosing to homeschool is due to the attacks on CRT. The erasure of ethnic studies and the whitewashing of history have sparked concerns about the lack of diverse and inclusive curricula in public schools. These trends have prompted many Black parents to take their children's education into their own hands, ensuring they receive a more well-rounded understanding of history, culture, and social issues.
Cheryl Fields-Smith, a professor in elementary education at the University of Georgia, cited several reasons why more Black families are choosing to homeschool, including the disproportionate rates of discipline against Black students [[link removed]] , the resegregation of schools [[link removed]] , the denied access to gifted education [[link removed]] in Black and brown communities, and bullying [[link removed]] compounded by school safety concerns. (Athena Jones and Nicquel Terry Ellis, “ More Black Families are Choosing to Homeschool Their Children [[link removed]] ,” CNN, March 2023)
For other Liberal families, Anti-LGBTQIA school policie s have further compounded the issue, making public schools inhospitable environments for LGBTQIA students and their families. In response, an increasing number of parents are choosing homeschooling to provide a more accepting and inclusive atmosphere for their children.
“Their rationale goes beyond curriculum: In the absence of protections at school, many of these new home-schooling parents have opted for a safe environment for LGBTQ kids and those of color.” (Charley Locke, “ America’s Culture Wars Have Liberal Parents Opting for Home-Schooling [[link removed]] ”, Bloomberg, October 2023)
For families that are privileged enough to choose homeschooling as an alternative, it may seem like great news. But for many, homeschooling is not an option. With the culture war in our education system, this only adds to the long list of problems within our already broken public education system.
While homeschooling offers individualized learning experiences and parental involvement, it's also essential that we work even harder to create more inclusive and equitable public schools that reflect the diverse and evolving needs of our society. Not to bend to the whims of the asinine and leave our children behind. (I’m looking at you Ron DeSantis and Moms for Liberty.)
This is why PowerPAC is highlighting school board races as part of our Down is What’s UP! Campaign. Our current elected officials need to stand up and fight hard towards ensuring our public schools are inclusive, representative, and welcoming to all students, regardless of their backgrounds or identities.
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But even more importantly, we need to elect MORE school board members to join the fight.
A progressive mom’s musings.
Edil Mari De Los Reyes
PowerPAC is a social justice organization that strategically directs financial and human resources to local and state organizations working to deliver wins in legislative fights, ballot initiatives, and more. For years the money we've raised has, dollar for dollar, been given back to the communities we work with. We've made sure that your investments were being used to build power for our communities because too often we are underrepresented and ignored.
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