Kerry McDonald says, “It’s a Great Time to Be a Homeschooler.” Read at the Foundation for Economic Education.
According to new data released this month by the U.S. Department of Education, the number of homeschooled children has doubled since 1999 to 1.8 million children in 2012, or 3.4 percent of the overall school-age population. (As a comparison, about 4.5 million children are enrolled in U.S. K-12 private schools.) According to the DOE data, the geographic distribution of today’s homeschooling population is evenly split, with about one-third each in rural, urban, and suburban areas. “Concern about schools’ environments” remains a top driver for homeschooling families, with 9 in 10 survey respondents indicating it was an important reason in their decision to homeschool.
