Nearly 30,000 students were withdrawn from public schools in Texas by their parents to begin homeschooling during the 2021-2022 academic year, according to data from the Texas Education Agency.
The data, which the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) obtained through a public information request, showed a significant spike in homeschooling after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns.
In the 2021-2022 school year, 29,765 students in grades 7-12 switched from public schools to homeschooling, nearly matching the number of students who switched the previous year (29,845) during the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a press release from THSC, per The Texan.
The Texas Education Agency does not track data for students below the 7th grade, so the number of withdrawals was likely much more. THSC estimated that 8-10% of Texas students are now being homeschooled.
Jeremy Newman, vice president of policy and engagement at THSC, said he was not surprised to see the trend continue.
“Despite many commentators theorizing that the homeschool exodus from public schools would slow after [the pandemic], it instead appears to be keeping pace,” Newman told the Texas Scorecard. “Before COVID-19, 20,000-25,000 students in grades 7-12 withdrew to homeschool each year.”
“Since [the pandemic], that number has reached nearly 30,000 and appears to be staying there,” he added.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott confirmed he will call a special session for state lawmakers to take up school choice legislation after the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. Efforts this year to pass such legislation during the regular session failed.
“Every parent deserves choices about where they will send their child to school. All these parents know this isn’t a Republican issue, it’s not a Democrat issue. This is a civil rights issue,” Abbott previously said, according to the Texas Observer.
More than 60% of Texans support school vouchers for low-income families, and more than 50% support them for all families, according to a YouGov poll conducted by the University of Houston.
The reasons parents choose homeschooling for their children vary. Roughly one-third cited concerns about safety, drugs, or peer pressure, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Another 17% cited dissatisfaction with academic instruction at schools.
At Dallas ISD, only 41% of students scored at grade level on their STAAR exams during the 2021-2022 school year, and almost 20% of the district’s graduating Class of 2022 failed to earn a diploma in four years, despite the hard work of Dallas ISD’s dedicated educators.
“The data on this is definitely anecdotal … but the most common thing we hear from parents is ‘I just can’t believe what is going on in the schools,’” Newman told the Texas Scorecard.
