This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/upstream" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream</a>, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Our homeschool journey with our firstborn has come to an end. This weekend, our guinea pig for this counter-cultural educational choice dons the cap and gown and packs away her spiral notebooks filled with her assignment lists and spelling tests. It’s over, and she made it.
So did her father and I. Closing the curtain on this milestone has made us both reflect on how quickly it went by, how much simpler it was than people want to make it out to be, and how different it is from the thousands of negative comments we have received.
When our eldest was five, we did the only natural thing and enrolled her in kindergarten. It was a wonderful little school (still is, actually) and the very place both her dad and I spent our elementary years. It was simple, sweet, and about everything you could ask for. No screens, plenty of imaginative play time, and an atmosphere where imagination, reading, and personal responsibility are fostered. We loved it for her.
For a short time, we even enrolled her younger sister in the adjoining preschool because, why not? Mom could have a free morning or two, and the kids could be “socialized.”
At this time, my husband was a homeschool skeptic. I had dropped hints from time to time, but it was foreign to us — especially in Southern California. You had two kids, and you put them in the best public or private school you could manage. That was the deal.
But everything changed when my husband picked up the girls from school one day. It changed so quickly for him that, as soon as he got home, he told me, “Let’s think about homeschooling.”
Sean walked through the gates to pick up our sweet preschooler, and before she saw him, he lingered and watched her play. He said he stood there for about five or so minutes as she bounced on rubber mats, walked to the sandbox, and talked to what seemed to be an imaginary friend. Her hair was in pigtails. She quietly roamed around by herself until she saw him and excitedly ran into his arms. Of course, this is nothing out of the ordinary, but for my husband, who was constantly the last child picked up from day care each and every day, it hit him.
We are missing thousands of hours of our children growing up if we put them in school. By some <a href="https://rickhess99.medium.com/time-is-a-schools-most-precious-resource-where-does-it-go-c2c575d83d74">estimates</a>, a child will spend 15,000 hours at school from ages five to 18. We knew we would be missing hundreds of conversations. We wouldn’t be witnesses to the beautiful, ordinary moments that made them laugh, or the random spark of creativity that fluttered before their eyes, only to be forgotten when they were due back in their classroom.
By taking the prescribed route that we had thought was best, we would forfeit thousands of hours learning about who they were — roughly two years of their lives that would be a mystery to us. We started homeschooling the next fall; our first day of school was about four days before I was due with our third child.
As I prepare for our 18-year-old’s graduation party, I reflect on the younger mother who was afraid to buck norms and try something that seems revolutionary to many. Through the years, there were times when I felt unequipped, exhausted, and challenged beyond my capacity. I allowed the comments to get to me: “What if your child is weird?” and “They won’t meet standards!” were just two of many.
There were moments when I threatened to throw them on a school bus (never serious, but always effective). There were years when the curriculum didn’t fit and months when tears became a mainstay during math worksheets. There were also moments of extreme gladness: watching my girls each learn to read on our couch, seeing them flourish as artists, musicians, and writers in their own time and in their own way. We spent our days baking, listening to audiobooks (yes, I have every Ramona Quimby story memorized, word for word), and taking walks where they poured out their souls. I watched them help one another with spelling or geography.
The past 13 years have been like living inside a laboratory of learning and development. Our house is like a cabinet of curiosities, with books, binders, and random nature bits strewn all over the place.
Now, it all feels like a dream. Yes, I still have three more daughters to graduate, but our time all together is coming to a close. 
Parenting, no matter how you slice it, will be marked by seasons of questioning and difficulty. That’s not unique to homeschool parents; it’s universal. Regardless of whether you send your children off to your local middle school, find a nice Christian school in your neighborhood that you can afford, or decide to take on the charge as “teacher” yourself, it will be hard, and you will question whether you’re doing the right thing at times.
But one thing I feel so deeply grateful for that I would never trade, not for a million dollars, is those 15,000 hours with my daughter. I will hold those moments so closely to my heart: the joyful ones, the sad ones, and, yes, the hard ones. What a gift they have been and how quickly the stopwatch moved. It is now over, and I can never go back, no matter how much I wish I could. 
I can only sit here and sing the praises of homeschooling to someone who might be considering it. It’s not easy, but one thing you’ll always be able to carry with you is those missing hours. They are yours, and they are a treasure.
***
Rachel Reeves is a wife and homeschool mother of four daughters. She works in political commentary at Here Are The Headlines, both on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/herearetheheadlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a> and <a href="https://www.herearetheheadlines.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Substack</a>.

GettyImages-523289418

The 15,000-Hour Reality About Childhood More Parents Are Waking Up To

Homeschooling

Upstream

Our son Samuel is 15 years old, and he loves to run. When the school day ends, he laces up his shoes and heads out. Running has become a meaningful part of his life, strengthening his body, steadying his mind, and shaping habits of discipline and perseverance.
Samuel ran track and cross country through middle school. He trained hard. He competed alongside his peers. He got better.
Then he entered ninth grade, and Virginia told him to stop.
Not because he isn’t fast enough. Not because he isn’t dedicated enough. Not because he did anything wrong. Samuel was told he could no longer compete in track and cross-country events sanctioned by the Virginia High School League (VHSL) because we educate him at home.
Our decision to homeschool Samuel is rooted in our faith. It is a deeply personal choice — one Virginia law fully recognizes and protects. Each year, we file our notice of intent with the superintendent and provide a list of subjects he will study. Samuel completes assignments, reads widely, writes regularly, and takes nationally-normed, standardized tests, where he performs well. Stacie, Samuel’s mother, is a formerly licensed public educator who has taught hundreds of students across multiple disciplines. We would gladly meet reasonable academic reporting requirements if doing so meant Samuel could run alongside his peers at Northside High School.
But none of that matters under the current rules.
The VHSL’s policy, in place for nearly 40 years, requires students to be “bona fide” full-time enrollees of a member school. Homeschoolers do not qualify. Period. It does not matter how rigorous the academics are. It does not matter that we pay the same taxes that fund the very schools and athletic programs from which our son is excluded. It does not matter that more than 66,000 Virginia children are homeschooled — a number that grows every year.
The door is shut.
What makes that exclusion even harder to justify is the group permitted to pass through that door. Public school students can compete, of course. Private school students can participate in VHSL-sanctioned events. Even students enrolled in full-time virtual public school programs — students who never set foot in a school building — are eligible. But a homeschooled student who lives in the district, whose family pays the taxes that fund it, who meets every academic standard set by the state, and who simply wants to train and compete receives no such opportunity.
There is no coherent principle behind that red line, and the VHSL’s own exceptions expose the problem.
We tried to work within the system before we ever considered a courtroom. We approached the VHSL and even offered to present our case. The response, to paraphrase, was simple: the policy is what it is; the board supports it. In effect, we were told not to waste our time.
That was a difficult moment for our family. We respect authority, and we teach our children to do the same. Samuel himself has said he was raised to follow the rules — but also this: when those in authority step outside constitutional bounds, the Constitution provides a path for citizens to seek a remedy.
We are grateful to have found allies in this fight. The Founding Freedoms Law Center, the legal arm of The Family Foundation of Virginia, is representing our family pro bono. For years — decades, really — efforts have been made to fix this through the legislature. Session after session, lawmakers have introduced what is commonly known as the “Tebow bill,” legislation that would allow homeschooled students to participate in public school athletics, as they already can in roughly 30 other states.
Repeatedly, those efforts succeeded and the legislature passed the bill. Every single time, Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed it — closing the door just as it was about to open.
The legislative path has been tried. It has been blocked.
But what legislation has not yet accomplished, the Constitution already secures. The government cannot deny access to a publicly funded benefit because a family lives in accordance with sincerely held religious convictions. Nor can it deny equal protection under the law based solely on how a child is educated.
That is why, on March 30, 2026, we filed a federal lawsuit against the Virginia High School League and the Roanoke County School Board. Our case argues this blanket exclusion violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the religious liberty protections in Virginia’s Constitution, and the Virginia Religious Freedom Restoration Act. We are asking for a jury trial in federal court in Roanoke.
We want to be clear about what this case is and what it is not.
This is not about guaranteeing Samuel a spot on a team. It is about giving him the same opportunity as any other student: to try out where tryouts are held, to participate where they are not, to earn a place, and to compete. It is about the simple principle that a taxpayer-funded benefit should not be withheld from a child because his parents, guided by their faith, choose to educate him at home.
It is not just about Samuel.
When we told him we were considering this lawsuit, his response moved us. He said he wanted to do this not only for himself, but for his friends, and for the child he has not even met, a homeschooled student somewhere in Virginia who might one day have the chance to compete because this barrier was finally removed.
Other states have already shown this works. Homeschoolers participate. Standards remain intact. Teams function as expected. The sky does not fall.
Virginia refuses to follow where the evidence already leads.
Meanwhile, Samuel’s high-school years continue to slip away. Every season he cannot compete is one he will never recover — a season of training with teammates, testing himself in real competition, and learning discipline and perseverance in ways only organized athletics can teach. He dreams of one day being fast enough to run for Virginia Tech. It’s a long shot, but it should be his shot to take. Without the opportunity to compete at the high-school level, that door is closed to him.
We have also filed for a preliminary injunction, so Samuel can run while this case proceeds. Time flies, especially for a 15-year-old who runs.
We did not seek this fight. We are a family from Roanoke County who wanted our son to run track. But when we encountered a rule that treats our child as less than equal for no reason other than where he sits during the school day, we knew we had to act.
Not just for Samuel, but for every family in Virginia who has been told their children do not belong.
Our message is simple: Let Samuel run, and let the kids play.
***
Daniel and Stacie Palmer are parents living in Roanoke County, VA.

Legs and feet on a red track

Virginia Doesn’t Let All Kids Participate In Sports; Our Homeschooled Son Wants To Change That

DW Opinion

High school sports

Virginia

The recent victory of Donald Trump at the national polls ushered in “morning in America” as much as it indicated a repudiation of wokeness. His vow to dismantle the Department of Education offers the US an enviable opportunity and appointing the media tycoon Linda McMahon indicates a welcome, business-minded (read: meritocracy-based) approach. To effectively revamp our schools and the specific ways we invest in, approach, and even define education, depends on some hard truths and our willingness to confront them.
Americans have spoken by refuting the Division, Exclusion, and Inequality movement taking over our culture and our schools. Parents rejected the leftist push for gender ideology, critical race theory, and pornography in our schools to support girls-only locker rooms and their hard-won Title IX sports.
Yet the war is far from won and success in this battle only slows the advance. To preserve our traditional values, we must examine how we arrived where we are today, fighting culture conflict within our own families. While President-elect Trump addresses education on the federal level, our communities must tackle these issues locally at the same time. We can celebrate our public victories against Bud Light and Target, but if the battles for the hearts and minds of our young people continue inside our schools, we may snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
According to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/02/15/u-s-students-internationally-math-science/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew Research</a>, the U.S. ranked an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/on-the-world-stage-us-students-fall-behind/2016/12/05/610e1e10-b740-11e6-a677-b608fbb3aaf6_story.html?utm_term=.e99466bb5b12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unimpressive 38th</a> out of 71 countries in math and 24th in science on the most recent international academic achievement studies survey taken in 2015. We currently spend more per student than almost any other country to achieve those discouraging results. Why are we fighting to preserve such a spectacularly failing institution while the world sprints past us? Because school is good. That’s the resounding mantra we all ingested.
Schools are where we all learned to trust the experts, especially the educators, so it’s nearly impossible to repudiate the efficacy or validity of our &#8220;factory schools&#8221; and teachers. Despite our reluctance, analysis of the problem demands transparency and candor.
First, for decades, schools have coached pupils (us) to believe that their highest goal is college prep and career readiness (read: money). Where decades ago we believed in entrepreneurship, integrity and independent innovation, now culture holds that the only way to the money is the institutional road. It’s no wonder parents would sacrifice their children on the school’s altar! Save the schools or my child will not succeed! As parents see the blatant lies in our schools, the pornography, the abject ignorance, and the abysmal academic performance, belief in that ultimate fiction has recently (finally) been unseated, and we can (and should) criticize our schools.
The Marxist principles of the teachers’ unions directly contradict traditional American values, but with their market stranglehold they can afford to ignore our condemnation. Inflicting their evil dogma on impressionable minds is their second incentive to preserve their institutions. We are now in a race to see who converts the culture first. If we, however, continue submitting our children to their indoctrination, we will soon reach the tipping point where our own offspring will vote down the Second Amendment and for a surveillance state. And while laws may countermand the Marxist mantra, many ideological teachers don’t heed the law.
Enter the school choice debate. On the surface, government funds following the child makes sense. The parents can vote with their feet and their dollars. But financial infusions typically inflate costs, negating the value of injected money. Further, government intrusion disrupts honest brokerage: in the case of education, it will oust any educational endeavors unwilling to subject themselves to government scrutiny – which would be the only authentic players in the game. Universal school choice (read: single-payer education) would kill innovation, putting us right back to where we are now.
<h3><a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a></h3>
The future is uncertain, and foundational transformation is the only way to prosper. That’s why Trump has floated tax credits for families with school-aged children. This might afford them more flexibility to raise and educate their children without the strings of government forcing its ideas on them.
The most radical idea in education is reverting to first principles — training the student to teach himself. This is how education used to work, before we began our modern &#8220;factory school&#8221; experiment. It is how the founders – those geniuses who devised our representational republic that so few of our citizens currently acknowledge – became educated.
The education revolution begins with the recognition that it doesn’t take an “expert” to train a child to be an adult; parents should do that.
Parents want a better route forward for their families and their children’s futures, and home education offers that pathway. Most parents are smart enough to be their child&#8217;s teacher. Indeed, the parent’s level of schooling is not reflective of academic outcome for the homeschooled child. Ultimately, all wisdom is self-taught and children need wisdom more than they need to drill math facts, memorize dates, or learn about lubrication.
Many parents still feel enslaved to the system, brainwashed to conform by its past self-proclaimed glory. The new learning model, however, is independent of what any woke “educators” recommend, and for good reason. Independent-minded parents choose home education instead, to foster in their children a devotion to truth, appreciation for wisdom, and the love of freedom.
* * *
Sam Sorbo is an education freedom advocate. A successful Hollywood film actor, producer, and writer, Sam took a step back from her career to homeschool her three children. She has authored numerous books, including her newest releases: “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Parents-Guide-Homeschool-Making-Education/dp/1630063002/ref=sr_1_1?crid=HFWW0GGBD8Z8&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.yVYc1H-XpcJF2RaoepopgHFxrEhbmBVVmI0sH01FpWOXkzwvNBVNwmS-AtJu2G3FDKvoxBHkGGNNXkFFjoiBsinUChM9L5HNlpcD7m8QJ3Gm_8gxVwSQ33qiNOxwx1FlRG7ekd3i83bTCrSoSfxHOImdLZD5O_1lrJp2g6Ty8NZVtmVxBisE23eAn-mqaiAjNMUQ7YcHm_GYRo_E4y40RZq-WtC0Scz-iw9HmLCjICI.paIAaZz6m84aTGbMCODe3GFah6-u91YqwIC5zNIX5Ss&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Sam+Sorbo&amp;qid=1733341621&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=sam+sorbo%2Cstripbooks%2C104&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parents’ Guide to Homeschooling</a>&#8220; and &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-40-Days-Devotional-Celebration/dp/1630063029/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Christmas 40 Days Devotional,</a>” with husband Kevin Sorbo.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Listening intently to our teacher

An Education Revolution Is Needed Now More Than Ever

Donald Trump

Education

Kevin Sorbo

Opinion

Schools

Title IX

Tennessee unveiled a broad new school choice initiative this week.
Governor Bill Lee (R) <a href="https://www.tn.gov/governor/news/2023/11/28/gov--lee--legislative-leadership-call-for-statewide-school-choice--unveil-education-freedom-scholarship-act.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> the Education Freedom Scholarship Act on Tuesday at the Tennessee State Museum alongside Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R). Arkansas adopted a universal school choice policy earlier this year.
Lee&#8217;s proposal would establish universal school choice for every public school student across the state.
Next school year, 20,000 scholarships would be available. Half of those would go to Tennessee students at or below 300% of the federal poverty line, who have a disability, or are eligible for the existing Education Savings Account pilot program.
By the school year that starts in 2025, all public school students would be eligible for a scholarship.
No bill has been formally filed in the legislature yet, but Lee <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/28/tennessee-school-choice-vouchers-gov-bill-lee-unveils-expanded-statewide-program/71714741007/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> his office would work with the legislature on the &#8220;final details&#8221; when the General Assembly reconvenes in January.
Families could spend their child&#8217;s scholarship money on tuition at a private or religious school, uniforms, technology, transportation, or home school expenses. Families can also spend the money on tutoring, after school programs, and SAT and ACT exam fees.
Lee also said the scholarship program would be funded separately from Tennessee&#8217;s Investment in Student Achievement funding structure for K-12 education.
Lee said Tennessee should do two things at once — strive to have the best public school system in the country and provide families with school choice.
&#8220;These two ideas are not in conflict, and conservative states across the country are proof,&#8221; Lee said in a statement provided to The Daily Wire.
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Lee added that he has &#8220;firsthand&#8221; knowledge of the benefits of school choice since his children have been in public school and private school and been homeschooled, and his wife is a teacher.
&#8220;We can all agree that every Tennessee child deserves a shot at success. Every student has unique needs and every classroom offers unique value,&#8221; Lee said. &#8220;Parents know best and should have the freedom to choose the right education for their child, regardless of income or zip code.&#8221;
Sanders praised Tennessee&#8217;s school choice plan, <a href="https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2023/11/28/tennessee-school-choice-vouchers-gov-bill-lee-unveils-expanded-statewide-program/71714741007/#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">calling</a> it part of &#8220;an absolute conservative education revolution in our country.”
A wave of school choice bills have worked their way through state legislatures in recent years. Arizona, Utah, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire <a href="https://www.vox.com/politics/23689496/school-choice-education-savings-accounts-american-federation-children" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were all</a> successful in creating or expanding school choice programs.
During the pandemic, parents across the country became frustrated with school COVID restrictions and controversial curriculum content, <a href="https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/parents-are-pulling-students-from-public-schools-at-record-rates-students-covid-pandemic-remote-learning-homeschooling-charter-private-mountain-districts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">leading</a> many families to pull their children out of public school permanently.

Trinity Alps Unified School District

Tennessee Governor Unveils Bold New School Choice Initiative

Bill Lee

Charter Schools

Private Schools

Public Schools

Republicans

School Choice

Tennessee

U.S.

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/illinois">Illinois</a> Democrats allowed the state&#8217;s only school choice program to expire this week.
The Invest in Kids tax credit scholarship program will sunset at the end of the current school year after Illinois legislators ended the fall legislative session on Thursday without taking action to renew it.
The $75 million program <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/illinois-controversial-private-school-scholarship-program-is-ending/849c1d35-b525-4dde-adbf-9147aa38a224" target="_blank" rel="noopener">awards</a> an income tax credit to taxpayers who donate to scholarship funds that allow lower-income students to attend private schools.
About 9,700 Illinois students received scholarships last school year. The average family income for scholarship students was $45,000, <a href="https://empowerillinois.org/wp-content/uploads/EI_Y5_Report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to Empower Illinois, the state’s largest scholarship granting organization.
Republicans and some Chicago-area Democrats had pushed to renew a slimmed-down version of the program for five years. The new version would have cut the program to $50 million, slashed the tax credit amount, and reduced the donation cap from $1 million to $500,000 as well as focused more on low-income students.
However, the majority of Democrats in the state House never backed the proposal, and Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Democrat, declined to call the bill to the floor.
On Monday, a group of Illinois House Democrats <a href="https://twitter.com/janschakowsky/status/1721674773669834859" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> for scrapping the program, arguing that school vouchers &#8220;perpetuate and deepen the education inequities that plague Illinois&#8221; and complaining that many of the private schools are &#8220;run by religious groups&#8221; and &#8220;openly discriminate&#8221; on the basis of things like gender identity.
Meanwhile, hundreds of parents and others with signs reading “Save My Scholarship” rallied at the House <a href="https://www.wbez.org/stories/illinois-controversial-private-school-scholarship-program-is-ending/849c1d35-b525-4dde-adbf-9147aa38a224" target="_blank" rel="noopener">during</a> all six days of the fall legislative session.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Right outside the House Chamber!
SAVE MY SCHOLARSHIP KIDS OVER POLITICS CALL THE BILL <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisWelch_JD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ChrisWelch_JD</a> <a href="https://t.co/hUZsBb8ZKD">pic.twitter.com/hUZsBb8ZKD</a>
&mdash; Illinois Freedom Caucus 🇺🇸 (@ILFreedomCaucus) <a href="https://twitter.com/ILFreedomCaucus/status/1722680484663017488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Republican House minority leader, Tony McCombie, promised to fight to reauthorize the school choice program next year.
“I think there is some things that we can do to make it a better program, a more effective program, that could serve more students as well,” McCombie said.
Teachers unions were the main opponent of the Invest in Kids program.
The president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers celebrated in a statement on Thursday, saying there is a &#8220;nationwide push to divert public dollars from our public schools.&#8221;
“Illinois lawmakers chose to put our public schools first and end the state program that subsidized private, mostly religious schools, many of which have discriminatory policies,” union President Dan Montgomery said.
Over the last few years, the school choice issue has taken center stage in several states.
Florida expanded its school choice program and has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/florida-expanded-school-choice-defies-doomsday-predictions-as-tens-of-thousands-of-students-enroll/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over 90,000</a> more students enrolled in private schools and other alternative education programs than last year.
In Arizona, more than <a href="https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/2-arizona-school-choice-leaders-resign-as-controversy-over-the-program-continues" target="_blank" rel="noopener">60,000</a> students have used the state&#8217;s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a number that skyrocketed over the last year.

Parents Call For Childcare Subsidies

Illinois Democrats Kill State’s Only School Choice Program

Illinois Democrats Kill State's Only School Choice Program

Democrats

Illinois

Homeschooling has become America’s fastest-growing form of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education">education</a> and continues to explode in popularity long after pandemic-era remote learning has ended, a new Washington Post analysis shows.
The dramatic rise in homeschooling that began during the pandemic continued through the school year that ended this past spring, according to the Post&#8217;s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f003?utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a>, which looked at data from nearly 7,000 school districts across the country.
Homeschooling&#8217;s continued popularity flies in the face of predictions that most families would go back to in-person classes at schools once controversial pandemic restrictions like mask mandates ended. Another concern parents had after the pandemic is learning loss in public schools, which may also be driving some families to homeschool.
&#8220;Home schooling’s surging popularity crosses every measurable line of politics, geography and demographics,&#8221; the Post&#8217;s analysis stated.
The analysis looked at data from 32 states and the District of Columbia, which represent more than 60% of school-age children. The data is incomplete because some states do not have reliable tallies of homeschoolers, and 11 states, including Texas, Michigan, Connecticut, and Illinois, do not require families to notify the state when they decide to homeschool.
Nevertheless, the numbers that are available indicate that homeschooling has become a &#8220;mainstay of the American educational system,&#8221; the Post said.
Before the pandemic, there were 1.5 million homeschoolers in the U.S., according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Now, there are between 1.9 million and 2.7 million homeschoolers in the country, the Post&#8217;s analysis estimated.
Only two states, Georgia and Maryland, have seen homeschooling return to pre-pandemic levels.
With more than 154,000 homeschoolers, Florida has the largest homeschool population among the states with available data.
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However, the state with the fastest growth is blue New York, where the homeschool population has more than doubled since 2017 to almost 52,000 kids. Perhaps surprisingly, the trend is moving fastest in deep blue New York City, according to the analysis.
In 24 of New York City&#8217;s 33 school districts, the number of homeschooled children rose by at least 200% over six years. Brooklyn and the Bronx saw the highest growth rate — some of those boroughs&#8217; districts saw more than 300% growth.
Homeschooling&#8217;s popularity is also not confined to poorly performing public school districts, the analysis found.
Last fall, more than 60,000 students were homeschooled in districts that rank in the top fifth for academic achievement in the country.
Despite homeschoolers often <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/09/study-of-the-day-home-schooled-children-score-higher-on-tests/245036/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">outperforming</a> their public school peers, critics continue to push for more government oversight.
&#8220;Many of America’s new home-schooled children have entered a world where no government official will ever check on what, or how well, they are being taught,&#8221; the Post noted.

Symbol image – Mothers in the pandemic

Homeschooling Continues To Rise Dramatically, WaPo Analysis Shows

COVID

Homeschool

Pandemic

A Virginia teenager was told he had to remove two large American flags from his truck if he wanted to park in the school lot — so he left the school to be homeschooled instead.
Officials at Staunton River High School in Bedford County, Virginia, warned Christopher Hartless to take his flags down; he claimed they told him the flags were a “distraction.” When he refused, they reportedly took away his parking pass if he continued to fly them. Rather than ride the bus to school, Hartless simply decided to try homeschooling.
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High school student Christopher Hartless said &quot;he is just exercising his First Amendment rights by flying the flags.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/bwhD4v44cP">https://t.co/bwhD4v44cP</a>
&mdash; WALB News 10 (@WALBNews10) <a href="https://twitter.com/WALBNews10/status/1694367661684105638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 23, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;My family fought for America and I feel like I should be able to represent the flag that they fought for,&#8221; Hartless <a href="https://wset.com/news/local/bedford-county-family-pulls-son-out-of-school-after-controversy-over-american-flags-on-his-truck-christopher-hartless-driving-policy-senior-virginia-august-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.“I don&#8217;t understand how it&#8217;s distracting if they have one on the flagpole that every other student can see.”
His stepmother, Christina Kingery, chimed in, “I told my son if this is what he&#8217;s believing in, then we are both going to stand behind him all the way. &#8230; &#8220;If they&#8217;re willing to change and let kids want to fly the American flag, then I&#8217;ll put him back in Staunton River&#8230; possibly put him back in Staunton River, but if they don&#8217;t, then I&#8217;m going to continue to let him fly his flags.”
&#8220;I think that every student doesn&#8217;t matter what you believe in, what flag you fly, as long as it&#8217;s not harmful and it doesn&#8217;t disgrace our country, you have the right to fly it,&#8221; she concluded.
The school sent an explanation for their actions to parents that read, “The student parking contract, which has been used by all 3 of our high schools for many years, states, &#8216;Large flags or banners are not allowed to be flown or displayed on vehicles due to their distractive nature&#8230;’”
“Please be assured that we proudly fly the American flag throughout the school, and the Pledge of Allegiance is recited every morning,” the statement continued.
The National D-Day Memorial also resides in Bedford County to honor American GIs who helped invade France at Normandy on June 6, 1944, during World War II.
“Dedicated on June 6, 2001, by United States president George W. Bush and receiving as many as 100,000 visitors per year, the memorial is remarkable for its stone arch that rises nearly forty-five feet in the air,” Encyclopedia Virginia <a href="https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/national-d-day-memorial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notes</a>. “The memorial is located in Bedford partly for symbolic reasons: the Virginia town lost nineteen of its men engaged that day, all members of Company A, 29th Infantry Division, possibly the largest per capita loss of any town in America on that day.”

American Flag Pickup Truck

High School Tells Teenager To Remove His U.S. Flags From Truck. He Chooses Homeschooling Instead.

American Flag

High School

New College of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/florida" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Florida</a>, a public liberal arts <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">school</a> recently reformed by Florida Republican Governor <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/ron-desantis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron DeSantis</a>, will start to accept the Classic Learning Test, a standardized <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">college</a> entrance exam meant for students with classical and Christian educations.
DeSantis recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-mounts-anti-woke-offensive-at-public-florida-college" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appointed</a> six conservative activists and academics to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees, a move intended to purge the left-wing culture at the institution and reverse plummeting enrollment trends. The Classic Learning Test, an <a href="https://www.cltexam.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">alternative</a> to conventional standardized exams such as the SAT and ACT, seeks to more accurately measure intellectual capacity and centers on historic material from the Western canon.
“As New College strives to become a world-class liberal arts educational institution, adding the CLT as an accepted testing option for admissions will ensure we are reaching and welcoming students from all walks of life,” New College of Florida Interim President Richard Corcoran said in a <a href="https://www.ncf.edu/news/new-college-of-florida-to-become-first-florida-public-university-to-accept-the-classic-learning-test/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “Not only is this a tremendous opportunity for New College, but with the growing popularity of the CLT among Florida homeschoolers and classically educated students, we believe this is an exciting step for educational choice and freedom in our state as well.”
Classic Learning Test CEO Jeremy Tate said in an interview with The Daily Wire that the exam, which has grammar, literature, and mathematics components, can potentially “increase the likelihood” that students with classical educations attend New College of Florida.
“Homeschooled and classically educated students are some of the brightest minds in the next generation and can choose to attend almost any university,” he said. “A university needs to show that it wants and values these bright young minds on their campus. Accepting the CLT is a way to convey the mission of a school and offer a warm welcome to these students.”
One recent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/homeschool-students-trounce-public-and-private-school-peers-in-rigorous-standardized-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> of Classic Learning Test outcomes conducted by Houston Christian University professor Lisa Treleaven found that homeschooled students who took the exam surpassed private school, charter school, and public school counterparts. Homeschool students especially excelled on the verbal and writing portions of the Classic Learning Test while scoring at parity with private school and charter school students on the mathematics segment.
New College of Florida is the first public university in the state to accept the Classic Learning Test.
The reforms at the liberal arts school occur as DeSantis forwards additional legislation to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-makes-it-simple-for-media-on-proper-curriculum-for-kids" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remove</a> the tenets of critical race theory from the state’s education system. Among the appointees to the New College of Florida Board of Trustees were Christopher Rufo, a fellow with the Manhattan Institute and a conservative activist who has vocally opposed critical race theory, as well as Matthew Spalding, a constitutional government professor at Hillsdale College.
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DeSantis also required public university administrators earlier this year to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/desantis-puts-woke-colleges-on-notice-tells-them-to-hand-over-diversity-receipts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">provide</a> a detailed account of expenditures related to DEI initiatives as members of the Florida legislature considered budget proposals. The request asked administrators to include a brief description of each program, the total funding used to support the program, and the portion of the funding that came from taxpayer dollars. He contended that “DEI bureaucracies” are “hostile to academic freedom” and “constitute a drain on resources.”

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Florida College Overhauled By DeSantis Will Accept Standardized Exam Based On Classical Education

Florida College Overhauled By DeSantis Will Accept Standardized Exam Based On Western Canon

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Florida

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Ron DeSantis

Children Go Back To School After Christmas Vacations

Meet The Moms And Dads Taking Over School Boards Across The Country

Children

Parental Rights in Education

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School Boards

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/homeschooling" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Homeschool</a> students excel beyond their peers in private, charter, and public schools on the Classic Learning Test, a rigorous standardized <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colleges" target="_blank" rel="noopener">college</a> entrance exam oriented toward classically <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">educated</a> students.
The exam utilizes reading passages from classic texts written by individuals “whose writings have had a lasting influence on culture and society” rather than the informational passages and more contemporary writings often used in the SAT and ACT. The test, on which students can earn a maximum of 120 points, claims to more easily “differentiate students at the upper tail of the distribution” than conventional college entrance exams.
An <a href="https://www.nheri.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HSR381-Treleaven-article-only.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis</a> of Classic Learning Test outcomes by Houston Christian University professor Lisa Treleaven found that homeschool students who took the exam earned mean scores of roughly 78 points, surpassing private school students, who earned mean scores of 75, and charter school students, who earned mean scores of 73. Public school students earned mean scores of 66, marking the lowest among the cohorts considered by the study.
“This is consistent with prior research findings of superior academic performance of homeschool students as compared to other school types,” wrote Treleaven. The analysis was based on data from more than 12,000 students who took the Classic Learning Test between 2016 and 2021.
Classic Learning Test CEO Jeremy Tate, who created the exam in 2015, postulated that the freestyle structure offered by home education could provide an advantage over students in private school settings.
“Homeschooled students simply have more time for leisure reading,” he told The Daily Wire. “We forget that the word school derives from Greek scholē, originally meaning leisure. The connection between leisure and learning is profound. Factory model schooling is antithetical to leisure, but is common for homeschooled students who are given the time and space to immerse themselves in great literature.&#8221;
Homeschool students especially excelled beyond their peers on the verbal and writing portions of the Classic Learning Test while scoring at parity with private school and charter school students on the quantitative segment. Treleaven noted that her study adds to the current literature because of her large sample size and her lack of “affiliation or compensation from homeschool or educational advocacy groups.” She nevertheless noted the need for further research that does not rely upon a self-selected sample.
Other studies have shown that homeschooled students achieve significantly better results on conventional standardized exams than the national average. Homeschoolers typically score 15 to 30 percentile points higher than their public school counterparts, while black homeschoolers likewise score 23 to 42 percentile points above black public school students, according to <a href="https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/">data</a> from the National Home Education Research Institute.
The analysis of the Classic Learning Test results occurs after an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-the-right-to-homeschooling-under-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unprecedented number</a> of families removed their children from public schools in response to pandemic-related lockdown measures that dealt a severe blow to learning outcomes. The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nations-report-card-indicates-worst-decline-in-math-and-reading-scores-in-decades" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> average reading scores for nine-year-olds plummeting five points and average mathematics scores falling seven points over the past two years, with students belonging to racial minority groups posting especially severe learning losses. Particularly in urban school districts, teachers unions <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/five-cities-where-teachers-unions-are-keeping-schools-shutdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener">played a pivotal role</a> in extending virtual instruction well into 2021, a reality that the White House recently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-claims-schools-reopened-in-spite-of-republicans-here-are-several-videos-of-democrats-defending-closed-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">denied</a>.
Disruptions caused by lockdowns may cost the economy between $128 billion and $188 billion per year, according to an <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-2020-school-shutdowns-to-cost-economy-up-to-188-billion-per-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">estimate</a> from consulting firm McKinsey &amp; Company.

Homeschool Students Trounce Public And Private School Peers In Rigorous Standardized Test

Homeschool Students Dominate Public And Private Schoolers On Classic Learning Test

Katie Hobbs, the Democratic nominee for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona">Arizona</a> governor, released her education plan on Sunday, which doubles down on her opposition to school choice.
Hobbs, who is currently Arizona&#8217;s secretary of state and herself a private school graduate, said her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/education">education</a> plan for Arizona includes cracking down on the state&#8217;s school voucher program.
&#8220;Too often, Republicans have completely disregarded public opinion in an effort to defund our public schools. At every turn, they have moved to expand school vouchers without common-sense measures of accountability, with the clear intent to eventually do away with our local public schools,&#8221; Hobbs said in her <a href="https://katiehobbs.org/katie-hobbs-delivers-a-prepared-arizona-plan-to-bolster-the-states-education-system/">plan</a>.
Arizona <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2022/07/governor-ducey-signs-most-expansive-school-choice-legislation-recent-memory">expanded</a> its school voucher program over the summer. Governor Doug Ducey (R-AZ) signed a <a href="https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/77976">bill</a> in July allowing every Arizona student to get a taxpayer-funded Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) to pay for their education at a private school, <a href="https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2022/08/H.B.%202853%20FAQ.pdf">about</a> $6,500 per child for grades 1-12.
In the first two weeks after the online portal for new ESA applications opened, the state <a href="https://www.azmirror.com/2022/09/01/private-school-students-flock-to-expanded-school-voucher-program/">received</a> around 6,800 new applications for school vouchers.
Hobbs said that as governor, she would roll back the expansion.
&#8220;Vouchers should not have been expanded to provide an unaccountable means of enriching private schools and defunding our local public schools,&#8221; she said in her plan.
Hobbs also attacked Arizona Republicans, who she said &#8220;pressed forward with their latest attack on our schools&#8221; by passing the universal expansion of school vouchers.
&#8220;The unaccountable spending of taxpayer dollars needs to change,&#8221; she said.
Meanwhile though, Hobbs also wants Arizona public schools to be able to spend more money.
Her plan supports eliminating Arizona&#8217;s spending limit on public schools, known as the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL), which caps the amount of money public schools can spend out of their budget. Arizona&#8217;s public schools are <a href="https://tucson.com/news/local/education/school-districts-call-on-arizona-legislature-to-lift-spending-limit/article_e542b862-306b-11ed-a443-a3c0d99b8a84.html">estimated</a> to spend $1.3 billion less this fiscal year with the spending cap.
Hobbs herself is a beneficiary of a private school education.
Hobbs graduated from Seton Catholic Preparatory, a private Catholic high school in Chandler, Arizona in 1988. Seton has proudly <a href="https://4.files.edl.io/777c/02/07/20/182935-01c2dad9-46ad-4bd3-9986-918989df274a.pdf">highlighted</a> Hobbs&#8217; attendance in the past.
Hobbs herself has said she had a positive experience at the school. She <a href="https://www.gilbertsunnews.com/news/seton-catholic-high-celebrating-years-of-service/article_3774994c-e6f6-11e9-9ced-737f09da9bae.html">noted</a> in 2019 that Seton teachers encouraged her to look at things from different perspectives, like how to see the relevance in older classic literature.
“It really felt like a family,” Hobbs <a href="https://www.gilbertsunnews.com/news/seton-catholic-high-celebrating-years-of-service/article_3774994c-e6f6-11e9-9ced-737f09da9bae.html">said</a>. “You really had a chance to get to know the people that you went to school with.”
Support for school choice has <a href="https://www.federationforchildren.org/national-school-choice-poll-shows-67-of-voters-support-school-choice-2019/">increased</a> since before the pandemic as frustrated parents confronted school boards over a litany of issues including COVID restrictions and curriculum materials they deemed inappropriate.
Other states are also working to expand school choice. Last month, a school choice group in Michigan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/michigan-school-choice-group-clears-major-hurdle-in-circumventing-whitmers-veto">cleared</a> one of two major hurdles it needs to circumvent Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s (D-MI) veto of a school choice measure.
Also on Sunday, Hobbs&#8217; campaign <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-campaigns-government-and-politics-540ee7c3603d522c4e12c4e7083443b5">announced</a> that she will not debate her opponent, Republican Kari Lake after over a week of negotiations. Hobbs had attempted to replace the debate with having the candidates do separate half-hour interviews with the moderator instead.

Katie Hobbs

Private School Grad Katie Hobbs Releases Anti-School Choice Plan

2022 Midterms

Arizona

A school choice group in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a> has cleared one of two major hurdles it needs to circumvent Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/gretchen-whitmer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gretchen Whitmer&#8217;s</a> (D-MI) veto of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/school-choice">school choice</a> measure.
On Wednesday, Let MI Kids Learn overwhelmingly topped the number of signatures the group needed in order to put its petition for a tax-incentivized education scholarship program in front of the Michigan legislature for a second time.
The petition needed 340,047 signatures, and got over 520,000.
Now, the petition has been submitted to the Michigan Bureau of Elections, which will review and validate the signatures and send them to the Michigan Board of State Canvassers, which will certify the votes and send the proposal back to the legislature.
The legislature, led by Republicans, previously <a href="https://www.thecentersquare.com/michigan/senate-house-pass-michigan-opportunity-scholarship-bills/article_da3fc5e0-3107-11ec-b685-4b4ed2350af8.html">passed</a> several bills to set up the Student Opportunity Scholarship program in October, but Whitmer <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/05/whitmer-vetoes-education-scholarship-bills-she-likens-vouchers/6303620001/">vetoed</a> them the next month.
If Michigan&#8217;s legislature approves the school choice program a second time, it will become law. Whitmer will not have the power to veto it again.
The <a href="https://www.mackinac.org/29639">program</a> would give the families of K-12 students access to tax-credit scholarship funds, which can be used for many different educational expenses, including online classes, tutoring, extracurricular programs, mental health services, textbooks, laptops, WiFi, and even transportation.
&#8220;Michigan Student Opportunity Accounts will equip families with grants and benefits they can use for any education or learning expense – both inside and outside the classroom,&#8221; Let MI Kids Learn <a href="https://www.letmikidslearn.com/facts">says</a> on the group&#8217;s website.
The scholarship accounts would also add extra funding for the educational needs of students who stay in public schools, the group says.
Eligible students are those from households that earn no more than $98,000 for a family of four, or 200% of the reduced lunch qualification threshold. Lower-income students would be given first priority, as well as children in foster care and those with disabilities. Other students can receive smaller scholarships depending on their household income.
Another petition from Let MI Kids Learn pushes for a tax credit for private donors who donate to the scholarship program, but that petition has not garnered enough signatures so far.
The push for school choice in Michigan comes as parents across the country became frustrated with the public school system during the COVID pandemic when lockdowns, mask mandates, and learning losses in children made many families reconsider their education choices.
About 72% public schools <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/students-are-still-struggling-post-pandemic">reported</a> higher rates of chronic absenteeism, meaning students who miss at least 15 school days a year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Meanwhile, more than 87% of public schools say the pandemic negatively affected students&#8217; socio-emotional development over the past school year. About 83% of schools said students’ behavioral development has also been negatively affected.
Other states are moving toward school choice as well.
Last month, Republican Governor Doug Ducey <a href="https://azgovernor.gov/governor/news/2022/07/governor-ducey-signs-most-expansive-school-choice-legislation-recent-memory">signed</a> a huge expansion of Arizona&#8217;s private school voucher program, making all of Arizona&#8217;s K-12 students eligible for scholarship funds. Participating families will receive more than $6,500 per year per child for education expenses outside the public school system.
Overall, 19 states <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/community-family/us-students-start-academic-year-with-massive-gains-in-school-choice">enacted</a> new or expanded school choice policies for a total of 21 states and Washington, D.C., offering some form of school choice program.

Michigan Governor Whitmer Speaks On State’s Primary Election Day

Michigan School Choice Group Clears Major Hurdle In Circumventing Whitmer’s Veto

Michigan School Choice Group Clears Major Hurdle In Circumventing Whitmer's Veto

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