No longer in the throes of adolescence, North Carolina’s homeschooling movement celebrated its 20th birthday this year. Much has changed since the General Assembly moved to legalize homeschooling in 1988. Here and across the nation, the homeschooling movement has grown in stature and popularity – defying stereotypes and occasionally, disarming critics.
Conjure up a mental image of the “typical” homeschooler these days and you’re apt to be wrong. Indeed, a 2005 St. Petersburg Times headline trumpeted, “Homeschooling: It’s not what you think.” Once viewed – at times quite unfairly – as the province of white, fanatical parents, homeschooling has morphed into an increasingly diverse and credible movement.
In fact, according to an article in the News and Observer of Raleigh on Tuesday, more and more African-American families are joining the ranks of homeschoolers. Jennifer James, founder of North Carolina African-American Homeschoolers and the National African-American Homeschoolers Alliance, told the News and Observer, “Blacks are the fastest-growing demographic among homeschoolers.” Nationally, one in 10 homeschool students is black.
Data on the socioeconomic status of homeschooling families may challenge some stereotypes as well. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, homeschool students are slightly less likely to be affluent than their public school peers: 22 percent of homeschool kids and 25 percent of public school students live in families with an annual income above $75,000, compared to half of private school students. Notably, one-quarter of both homeschool and public school students live in homes with annual incomes at or below $25,000.
Families are attracted to homeschooling for a number of reasons. Chief among the reasons cited by parents is the desire to provide a safer, more wholesome school environment, according to federal education data. Parents also choose to teach at home because they are unhappy with the academic instruction at other schools or want to provide religious or moral training.
Whatever their motivations, more and more parents are signing on as teachers. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association, some two million children are homeschooled across the country. Last year in North Carolina, almost 69,000 students were enrolled in more than 36,000 homeschools. The number of students taught at home in our state has more than doubled since 2000.
As homeschool enrollments boom, public attitudes are slowly shifting to reflect an increased acceptance of home education. According to a survey by Ellison Research released last month, “Americans see homeschooling in a slightly more positive light than they do public schools.” Eleven percent rated homeschools as “excellent” compared to six percent who said public schools were “excellent.”
Yet obstacles remain. In California, a battle is raging over whether homeschooling parents should be certified. A court decision in February said they should; that ruling has since been vacated and the California Court of Appeal has agreed to a rehearing. Oral arguments are set to begin in June. The group North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) is monitoring developments in California closely. But according to a statement by NCHE President Ernest Hodges, North Carolinians have “greater protection than most states” since “freedoms to homeschool are supported by two separate Supreme Court rulings.”
Obviously, homeschooling isn’t for everyone. Most students still find a good fit in public or private schools. In many families, work or other circumstances preclude home instruction. But for a growing number of children, homeschooling provides the rigorous and nurturing learning environment they desperately need.
I would know. A former homeschooling skeptic (and sometime critic), I have spent the past year educating my fifth-grade son and first-grade daughter at home. I now have experience as a private, public, and homeschool parent. Know this: there are many others like me.
Some of us work part-time, some do not. Some of us are white, some are black or Hispanic. Some are wealthy. Most of us are not. But we are surely united in this: we value our freedom to choose what’s best for our kids. And there’s nothing fanatical about that.