Nearly 30,000 Texas students between grades 7-12 “withdrew” from public school to homeschool in the 2021-2022 school year, an open records request submitted by the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) to the Texas Education Agency revealed. According to a THSC press release, “This high has previously only been matched during the COVID-19 peak in the 2020–2021 school year, when the number was 29,845.”
Even before then, students were leaving Texas public schools in high numbers. Prior to Covid, 20,000-25,000 students in this grade range withdrew to homeschool each year, according to the press release. Since then, “that number has reached nearly 30,000 and appears to be staying there.”
The Texas Home School Coalition estimates that 8-10 percent of students in Texas are currently enrolled in homeschool programs. By comparison, before Covid, homeschooling nationwide “grew rapidly from 1999 to 2012 but had since remained steady at around 3.3%,” according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
THSC found the primary reasons parents opt to homeschool are “concern about safety, parental involvement, and the school environment.”
A study from the National Center for Education Statistics found the top reasons for homeschooling are concerns about an unsafe or negative “school environment,” a “desire to provide moral instruction” and prioritize “family life,” and dissatisfaction with other schools’ “academic instruction.” Strong majorities of homeschooling parents cite these as reasons for their decision.
Jeremy Newman, Vice President of Policy and Engagement at THSC, told The Federalist homeschooling is popular in Texas because it’s accessible for parents.
