LFH
Home schooling has surged to become the fastest-growing educational practice in the US, as parents across America increasingly opt to pull their kids out of the public education system, according to a new report from the Washington Post.
According to the Post’s analysis of states with available data, home schooling peaked in the 2020-21 academic year in recent times, when LFH (learning from home) became more of a mandate than a modern preference. And it’s stayed strong since then, with 51% more students taught at home in the last school year than in 2017-18.
(Public) School’s out
While the uptick of the less mainstream approach — adopted “mostly by religious parents” in past years — has been more intense in some parts of the country than others (9 of the top 10 home schooling districts are in Florida), the downturn for US public schools has been more consistent.
Indeed, over the last 5 academic years, public school enrolment has dropped some 4%, as gains in the home schooling and private educational sectors continue to take chunks from the public school share. Although the exact reasons for the decline aren’t clear, many are pointing to the waning trust in the system: just 26% of Americans reportedly have “a great deal/quite a lot” of trust in state schools — the joint-lowest figure in the last 50 years.
