Homeschooling doubled from pandemic's start to last fall
A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the rate of households homeschooling their children doubled from the start of the pandemic last spring to the start of the new school year last September
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The rate of households homeschooling their children doubled from the start of the pandemic last spring to the start of the new school year last September, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report released this week.
Last spring, about 5.4% of all U.S. households with school-aged children were homeschooling them, but that figure rose to 11% by last fall, according to the bureau's Household Pulse Survey.
The survey purposefully asked the question in a way to clarify that it was inquiring about genuine homeschooling and not virtual learning through a public or private school, the Census Bureau said.
Before the pandemic, household homeschooling rates had remained steady at around 3.3% through the past several years.
“It’s clear that in an unprecedented environment, families are seeking solutions that will reliably meet their health and safety needs, their childcare needs and the learning and socio-emotional needs of their children," the report said.
Nearly half of the nation’s elementary schools were open for full-time classroom learning as of last month, but the share of students learning in-person has varied greatly by region and by race, with most nonwhite students learning entirely online, according to results released Wednesday from a national survey conducted by the Biden administration.
Like the school openings, homeschooling differed by race and region, with the report attributing variations to local rates of coronavirus infections and local decisions about how school was being conducted during the pandemic.
Black households saw the largest jump in rates of homeschooling, going from 3.3% in the spring to 16.1% in the fall. The rate for Hispanic households of any race went from 6.2% to 12.1%. It went from 4.9% to 8.8% for Asian households, and from 5.7% to 9.7% for non-Hispanic white households.
Some states saw bigger jumps than others. Alaska went from 9.6% of households to 27.5% of households. In Florida, the rate jumped from 5% to 18.1%, and it grew in Vermont from 4.1% to 16.9%.
Even Massachusetts which has some of the nation's best public schools, went from 1.5% of households to 12.1% of households with school-aged children homeschooling.
Among the nation's largest metro areas, Detroit Phoenix and Boston had the largest increases.
The Household Pulse Survey was created by the Census Bureau last year to provide real-time data on the effect of the new coronavirus on the lives of U.S. households.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.