Homeschooling Growing Seven Times Faster than PS Enrollment

[8filltheheart]

This article didn't really state anything that we as homeschoolers don't already know......except perhaps that statistic. I was surprised by that number. Apparently, homeschoolers are now 4% of the population....that is pretty significant. When I think back to when I first started and there were only 5 other homeschooling families in our entire county, it is really quite huge.

 

http://www.breitbart...-Public-Schools

[8filltheheart]

I think I'm too dense to understand statistics. I read this a couple days ago and I just can't get it straight in my head. To me, it seems like PS enrollment is related to how fast people are having children, given that PS is still the default. However, with homeschooling (and even private school), enrollment can happen anytime between K and 12th grade (which is not related to having kids). To me, it makes more sense to compare homeschooling growth- current vs previous years. I dunno.

 

 

My take would be comparing ps enrollment in 1999 to ps enrollment now and declared homeschoolers in 1999 to declared homeschoolers now and then taking the increase divided initial # for the percentage change. So then it is just a comparison between the 2.

So......

 

(ps2013 - ps 1999)/ps 1999= ps% increase

(hs 2013- hs 1999)/hs 1999= hs% increase

[Crimson Wife]

"the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students."

 

Apples to oranges. The biggest part of the PS budget is teacher pay and benefits. If you took my foregone income, divided it by the two kids I HS, and add it to the cost of materials, it comes out to be quite a bit more than the per-pupil expenditure in my district. Now it's still less than what I would pay to send my oldest 2 to private school, which is a big reason why we are HS.

[Chrysalis Academy]

Wow, that is a surprising large percentage - in the past I've read the estimate that 1-2% of kids are homeschooled. This is the highest number by far that I've seen.

 

I guess it doesn't surprise me, though. Usually when I mention that we homeschool, the responses, in order of frequency, are 1) I could never do that, and 2) Will you homeschool my kid, too? No one ever wonders *why* I've chosen, just how I manage to pull it off. :lol:

[Chrysalis Academy]

Apples to oranges. The biggest part of the PS budget is teacher pay and benefits. If you took my foregone income, divided it by the two kids I HS, and add it to the cost of materials, it comes out to be quite a bit more than the per-pupil expenditure in my district. Now it's still less than what I would pay to send my oldest 2 to private school, which is a big reason why we are HS.

 

 

True dat. The economic cost - to my family - of me homeschooling the kids is way more than $10,000 per child per year. It's a price that only we pay, however, not the taxpayers. Obviously, we feel that the other benefits are worth it, but considering homeschooling an inexpensive option, in the bigger picture, is inaccurate. Even from a larger economic persepctive, what about the loss of "productivity" of all the homeschooling parents who don't work, and thus fail to "contribute to the economy".

[TracyP]

I started talking about homeschooling my kids 10 years ago. I learned to not bring it up because I got such negative reactions. Fast forward to now and I get support all over the place. In the grocery store someone will overhear that we homeschool and start chatting about how their niece or d-i-l plans to hs. I have had random people tell me how wonderful they think it is that I hs. :huh: Just an anecdote (obviously), but I have seen a huge attitude shift over the last 10 years.

[regentrude]

It's a stupid headline. Homeschooling is increasing, OK - so of course it is increasing faster than ps enrollment which is largely tied to demographics. Not sensational news.

 

Yet surprisingly, the average expenditure for the education of a homeschooled child, per year, is $500 to $600, compared to an average expenditure of $10,000 per child, per year, for public school students.

 

As others have already said, this is not a meaningful comparison. Let's incorporate the lost income of homeschooling mothers, retirement benefits, building maintenance. If I consider the reduction of my income because of my choice not to pursue full time employment according to my qualification, homeschooling costs me as much as some pretty fancy private school tuition.

[126bugeyes]

I would imagine numbers of homeschoolers in my area has more than doubled in the last few years. Counts I have heard recently have got to be way outdated!

[MusicMama]

I'm glad that it was a positive article, but they way they chose to present the statistics was interesting, to say the least.

[momma2three]

I know a little about Breitbart.com, but nothing about EducationNews.org (where the article was almost directly lifted from). And the EducationNews.org article seems like very poor journalism. There aren't any sources or citations, and a lot of what it says doesn't really even make sense.

 

The premise in the very first sentence (that dissatisfaction with US schools is growing) doesn't have any sort of citation, and I'm not sure what it's based on... sure lots of people harp on how school's gone way downhill since the "good old days," but they've been doing that since approximately the very first schools were founded a few thousand years ago. In Googling around, it seems that there was a recent survey that teacher satisfaction is down. The most recent survey I can find about parent satisfaction is from 2007, and it's pretty steady from 1993 (http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010004/tables/table_8.asp).

 

And the "seven times faster" thing, as others have pointed out, doesn't make any sense at all. And there's absolutely no explanation as to how they got that number, or where they're getting their numbers from.

 

So the numbers given may be accurate in some way, and it all certainly seems designed to stroke the intellectual ego of homeschoolers, but there's enough that's lazy and/or incorrect in there to make me distrust the entire article.

[creekland]

I can only offer anecdotal evidence... it's growing in my area (OODLES of portfolios turned in), but I didn't ask numbers. In a state like PA it seems they could easily get numbers since homeschoolers register each year (as do ps students).

 

Considering 65% of school districts in our state are making significant cutbacks due to our budget (fewer teachers, fewer courses, larger class sizes, etc), having more homeschool could assist the public schools.

[Butter]

You can play with numbers to make them say whatever you want.

 

I do wonder how exactly they arrive at the number of "enrollments" in homeschooling. Public school is easy. Homeschooling, not so much. In states where you have to report, they can get a number, but in states where you don't have to report that you are homeschooling, there's no number to be had. When looking at public school enrollments, do they count if a kid moves from one state to another, or just kindergarten?

 

When my parents started homeschooling me, the number of homeschoolers in the country was estimated about 1 1/2 million kids. That was more than 20 years.

[creekland]

Only if those moving to homeschool are the ones that the school is spending a lot of dollars on.

 

I was limiting my thought to smaller class sizes if more homeschool. Our tax $$ (local tax $$) still go to our school district when we homeschool (just as it does for those without students), so while they might get less from the state, the $$ they get in from us are pure profit whereas it isn't if our students go to ps. If the increase in homeschoolers is homogeneous across the state, the proportion of $$ they get would be the same. They are cutting the overall $$ no matter what the number of students are.

 

They definitely would make out better if special needs kids are homeschooled, but I think they make out better anyway - just different levels of "better."

[creekland]

It's not pure profit...someone is getting paid to do the tracking paperwork, and that someone is getting retirement at 55.

 

This person is doing this work anyway. The only alternative otherwise is NO homeschoolers and that's not happening. They are not hiring someone else due to an increase in homeschoolers.

 

I don't think you'd see smaller class sizes if the superintendents here are sharing their tips. What we are seeing is less sections of gen ed as larger class sizes are formed and those classes with less than 40-50 enrolled are eliminated (my rising jr lost his foreign language...25 is no longer enough to meet nonremedial, nonsped min class size). The now empty classrooms were converted to special needs offices and small group (remedial/sped) instructional space. Some are being rented to providers, and students from other districts attend special needs programs in clusters located throughout the area high schools if there is no private day placement available.

 

Here the cut off for a non-required course is 14 students. IMO, lower class sizes (even 40 vs 50) is a benefit to both the teacher and the kids. You are correct that there's a tipping point where it could go too low. That would not be a plus.

 

In elementary classes, having 25 vs 30 would be a plus... having 29 vs 30 would be a plus.

[8filltheheart]

Wow, you all read the article far more seriously than I did. I read it more along the lines of blather, blather, blather, homeschoolers are now about 4 % of the student population, blather, blather. LOL!

 

I spend way more than the article suggests on homeschooling, especially for high school where their numbers aren't even close. I would not be working outside the home, regardless, b/c I would not put little ones day care and have yet to have a time in our married lives where there hasn't been a little one around. By the time our youngest is school age, I will be approaching 50. I don't think I would be embarking a career at that pt. ;) So....I completely ignored the cost relation part of the article b/c I dismissed it as inaccurate.

 

But, I do still find it fascinating that the number of homeschoolers is that high. I had thought the estimated percentage of declared homeschoolers was closer to 2%. I didn't dig to see where they got their numbers from, so maybe my laziness in accepting their figures is that 4% is not accurate. :confused1: No idea.

[Ellie]

You can play with numbers to make them say whatever you want.

 

I do wonder how exactly they arrive at the number of "enrollments" in homeschooling. Public school is easy. Homeschooling, not so much. In states where you have to report, they can get a number, but in states where you don't have to report that you are homeschooling, there's no number to be had. When looking at public school enrollments, do they count if a kid moves from one state to another, or just kindergarten?

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

 

IDK, maybe people who are into statistics have ways of extrapolating data based on what they have. Maybe they figure out what the growth is in states that require homeschoolers to report how many dc they're hsing and figure in the number of children in all states. I guess that might give a fair estimate.

[Meriwether]

I think the '7 x faster' statistic is meant to show that the increase in homeschooling isn't due to population growth. Also, a subset of the population still prioritizes having a parent home and counts the material cost of that as a lifestyle choice, not specifically a homeschooling cost. I don't count lost wages as a cost to homeschooling because I'd be home at least until my youngest was in school, and I'm not sure that Dd3 will even be the youngest.

[TCB]

 

True dat. The economic cost - to my family - of me homeschooling the kids is way more than $10,000 per child per year. It's a price that only we pay, however, not the taxpayers. Obviously, we feel that the other benefits are worth it, but considering homeschooling an inexpensive option, in the bigger picture, is inaccurate. Even from a larger economic persepctive, what about the loss of "productivity" of all the homeschooling parents who don't work, and thus fail to "contribute to the economy".

 

 

It's not necessarily that expensive to homeschool though, I still work and I don't spend even $500 a year per child. Now I wish I didn't work and homeschool, but that's another story entirely.

[Mom0012]

Only if those moving to homeschool are the ones that the school is spending a lot of dollars on.

 

 

The school wants the reg ed children in attendance so that they can shift their funding to the hard to teach. That $10k/per pupil isn't done in the nonwealthy districts.... for gen ed it's about $8k/per pupil; for sped and alternative it's $30k/per pupil and those are 2011-2012 numbers just for instruction, no transport.

 

 

One way our district is saving money now is to promote dual enrollment for gen ed. Parent pays. The gen ed dollars allocated for those studentsare then shifted to remedial or sped. Another way is to increase the gen ed class sizes. My son's dual enrollment Trig class has 50 students...in a room built for 30 desks. They do a lot of boardwork.

 

 

 

I've been following Charlotte-Mecklenberg's story..for gen ed (if reporters are correct) essentially $5k/per pupil in the wealthy areas, $10k per pupil in the poverty areas, with that not being considered 'enough'. We have similar politicians here; the goal seems to be a budget that allows for $150k/sped child, which would be transportation plus day placement at a facility with the right specialists, $50K/alternative or remedial in very small class sizes or in 30 person classes with 3 teachers and many 1:1 behavior aides, and about $5k/reg ed in class sizes of about 50. With gym, they kind of gave up and just have 50 person classes that include the daily choice of walking laps.

 

The idea that the schools are spending so much more on special ed is always kind of mind blowing to me. My sister is a special ed teacher and teaches a class of 8 with one $10/hour assistant. My sister isn't making big bucks as a new teacher either. Other than the small class size, where is that money going? Or does it simply come down to class size? One of her own children is supposed to be pulled out for special ed services. Now that she is a teacher, she knows that doesn't happen a big part of the time. This is a kid with mild autism and very severe lds, who gets minimal services in his IEP and then doesn't receive the services half the time. She looks back at how hard she fought to get what she could in the IEP and now sees what a joke it is.

[regentrude]

The idea that the schools are spending so much more on special ed is always kind of mind blowing to me. My sister is a special ed teacher and teaches a class of 8 with one $10/hour assistant. My sister isn't making big bucks as a new teacher either. Other than the small class size, where is that money going?

 

Small class sizes get expensive quickly. To do a simple example: a 40k/year teacher teaching 8 kids costs $5k per kid. The same 40k/year teacher teaching 25 kids costs only $1,600 per kid.

 

The cost per student does not just contain teachers' actual pay. It contains benefits, pensions (which make up a large portion), building maintenance, utilities, salaries for the non-teaching staff like secretaries, lunch ladies, janitor, principal...

The financial statement of your local public school should be available online; you can see exactly where the money is spent.

[dewdropfairy]

Usually when I mention that we homeschool, the responses, in order of frequency, are 1) I could never do that, and 2) Will you homeschool my kid, too? No one ever wonders *why* I've chosen, just how I manage to pull it off. :lol:

 

 

Yes! This is so true. And like another poster mentioned there has been a huge attitude shift in the last ten years. This was my first year homeschooling, and TBH when I first started out I was steeling myself for the (I thought) inevitable attacks on homeschooling, questions about socialization, etc. They didn't come. I had relatives homeschooling back when it was more "fringe" and they had to deal with it a lot. I just get people justifying to me why they would like to, but can't. (Not that I asked... it's not my business :closedeyes: )

[CatholicMom]

I think I'm too dense to understand statistics. I read this a couple days ago and I just can't get it straight in my head. To me, it seems like PS enrollment is related to how fast people are having children, given that PS is still the default. However, with homeschooling (and even private school), enrollment can happen anytime between K and 12th grade (which is not related to having kids). To me, it makes more sense to compare homeschooling growth- current vs previous years. I dunno.

 

 

No, you are not dense at all. I totally agree. When people "enroll" their kids in homeschooling they are often pulling 3 kids out of public school at a time, while enrollment in public school is naturally going to be more steady because it's the default, like you said. The only way it would grow suddenly is if people start having a ton more kids or start leaving private schools for public schools en masse (bahahaha :lol: ).

 

But what IS meaningful, is that the number of homeschoolers has grown by 75% since 1999. That's crazy!!

 

I know when I was in high school we were sitting in class (home room?) wondering where so-and-so was and someone said they were doing "homeschool." I remember thinking this was some kind of oxymoron and never heard of such a thing in my life. What could this mean? But why isn't so-and-so in school? And how is this possible? And could this be illegal? And... and... Huh? :confused1: So I know first-hand that's how unheard of homeschooling was in 1998.

[CatholicMom]

 

 

Yes! This is so true. And like another poster mentioned there has been a huge attitude shift in the last ten years. This was my first year homeschooling, and TBH when I first started out I was steeling myself for the (I thought) inevitable attacks on homeschooling, questions about socialization, etc. They didn't come. I had relatives homeschooling back when it was more "fringe" and they had to deal with it a lot. I just get people justifying to me why they would like to, but can't. (Not that I asked... it's not my business :closedeyes: )

 

 

I totally agree. One of my pet-peeves is homeschoolers who stick their nose in the air whenever someone asks (being friendly!) if the kids are excited about "Christmas vacation" or what have you, referring to them being in public school. They laugh about their kids rolling their eyes at people (since when is it cool to be rude?) and are ready for a fight anytime someone asks about homeschooling or mentions the local school. Yet in my experience, I have had a LOT of people gather that my kids are homeschooled because we're out when otherwise they'd be in public school, and when I don't stick my nose up at them, out comes all kinds of compliments about my kids' behavior, praises about how great homeschooling is for kids, or stories about relatives and friends of theirs who homeschool their kids, too!

 

A decade ago I could understand feeling a bit defensive, but nowadays attitudes have changed so much and everybody knows somebody who homeschools. Not everyone agrees with it, but I've never had someone look at me like I had 3 eyes yet...

[Murphy101]

My husband had cousins that were homeschooled. And it's always been easier in oklahoma than other states, do that made it more likely for people to try it.

 

Not everyone that homeschools is pulling their kids out of public school. Many never report to any school at all.

 

And lastly, if the average homeschool family has more children than the average public school family, it's going to look like homeschooling is growing even if the number of families is roughly the same.

[Barbara H]

For any fellow geeks who enjoy statistics there is a good analysis of homeschool frequency at the International Center for Homeschool Research blog

 

Comments include: "Since I last reported this data, six states have seen increases in reported enrollment, six states have seen declines, and four states have flat-lined. I myself detect no pattern that might suggest an interpretation for why some states are up and others down, but this data does suggest that the days of dramatic nationwide growth in homeschooling may be coming to an end."

 

There are a lot of problems with accuracy in homeschool statistics and that includes trying to figure out how many people homeschool. It is clearly many more and a more diverse population than it was ten years ago but it sounds like we may be reaching an end of that growth.

[RootAnn]

My state requires notification. They also put out an annual report that includes percent of students (vs. public school population).

 

1992/93 school year: 1.3% of students

2002/03 school year: 2.2% of students

2012/13 school year: 2.4% of students (for about three years, it dropped below 2% & slowly rose again because of changes in the ages required to report for mandatory schooling)

 

Total # of kids has risen quite a bit (number of students doubled since '92/'93), but percentage vs. total student population hasn't changed a ton. My state isn't anywhere near the 4% number in the article, even counting those who might be flying under the radar (illegally).