Number of Texas families homeschooling their children rises for second year
Originally published by everythinglubbock.com.
LUBBOCK, Texas — Data ahead of the 2021 fall semester indicates that more parents are continuing to homeschool their children, continuing a spike exhibited in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. Census Bureau found that homeschooling rates in Texas nearly tripled, going from 4.5 percent in 2019 to 12.3 percent in 2020.
“In 2020 we saw the largest surge in homeschooling in history,” President of the Texas Home School Coalition Tim Albert said. “It appears that renewed concern about COVID-19 may be about to replicate a similar trend for 2021. We are also seeing thousands of families decide to continue homeschooling because of how well it worked for their family.”
The Texas Home School Coalition cites a survey released by the for-profit home school curriculum provider Time4Learning, which found that 72.2 percent of of families who began homeschooling during COVID-19 will continue to do so.
Jennifer Odom, a local support representative for the home-schooling community Classical Conversations, said she has witnessed a steady increase in her community’s membership for years. She believes this is part of a larger trend.
“COVID just kind of amped up [interest],” Odom said. “Because people weren’t sure what school was going to be like… I think we will continue to see a rise. I don’t think COVID is going to change the increase in interest.”
Lubbock ISD is preparing to welcome over 27,000 students back to school August 18. They are implementing various COVID-19 safety protocols, but may not require masks due to Governor Abbott’s executive order prohibiting governmental agencies from doing so.
