Texas Home School Coalition report: Withdrawals from public school increases 228% since 1997

Home school withdrawals statewide are growing at a faster rate than public school enrollment, according to a new study.

“COVID-19 has contributed a lot, probably not just in Texas but nationwide, to home-schooling numbers in general,” said Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) spokesman Stephen Howsley. “We did see a lot of parents who just decided it would be better, whether that be for their child's safety or health or for the flexibility, to instead move to home school.”

The THSC determined that between 1997 to 2019, withdrawals from public schools to home schooling in Texas increased 228% compared to a 41% increase in public school enrollment. 

“Texas, compared to other states, is probably one of the [most free] states to actually home school in,” Howsley told Education Daily Wire. “There are very few regulations and that allows parents to customize education for each child. A lot of people have realized over the years that a one-size-fits-all solution is not great when it comes to education. It really does vary based on each child and parents are looking for any possible way to make education more flexible, especially having multiple children.”

From 2017 to 2018, the Houston Independent School District in Harris County, the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio and the Conroe Independent School District in Montgomery County were the top three districts experiencing the most home school withdrawals, according to a new interactive tool released by the THSC that details all homeschool withdrawals from Texas public schools since 1997.

“The map helps to break down data by district to see which school districts are seeing more people withdraw to homeschool,” Howsley said in an interview.

Houston is a large support base for home-schoolers and a heavily populated area for home-school families, according to Howsley.

“There are a lot of home-schooling families there,” he said. “We have one of our largest conventions each year in the Houston area. It draws a large crowd of home-school families looking for curriculum and workshops. Just the sheer number of home-school groups that have formed within the Houston area is also evidence of just how many home-schoolers are there.”

The Texas Department of State Health Services dashboard reported 1.2 million coronavirus cases statewide and 21,756 deaths, as of Dec. 2.

Howsley recommends coronavirushomeschooling.com for parents contemplating withdrawing their children from public schools because it provides six weeks of curriculum.

“From there you can customize which curriculums you like,” he said. “Co-ops and home school support groups have now become fairly popular nationwide. Finding one near your home can really help to ease parents into the process and help them decide if it's right for their family.”