Parents Are Considering Pulling Their Kids Out of School

A large percentage of parents are questioning public school and even considering pulling their kids out of the education system and home schooling instead, according to a report.

The recent Outschool State of Schooling report found parents were showing a growing interest in alternative learning models post-pandemic.

Across the survey of 1,000 parents, 23 percent said they had less faith in traditional public schooling since the pandemic, and more than one third, or 36 percent, said they would consider home schooling.

This reflects the actual numbers of parents giving up traditional schooling for their children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, home schooling grew from 2023 to 2024. Nationally, 4.3 million children have been home-schooled this year, compared to 3.7 million in 2023.

There’s myriad factors at play. Mimosa Jones Tunney, the founder and president of The School House and the American Emergent Curriculum program, said home schooling has doubled in size since the pandemic, when many parents got up close and personal with what schools were teaching their kids (or lackthereof).

“Many parents feel that the infiltration of screens, phones, agendas and poor curriculum choices have soiled the public school system,” Jones Tunney previously told Newsweek.

Most schools, including all elementary schools in America, lack a full curriculum program that interconnects social and emotional learning, Jones Tunney said, based on her research.

“The evidence available to parents points to the fact that all of these elements are critical to student success,” Jones Tunney said. “When parents find them absent, they then look for other options.”

The pandemic’s online schooling system opened many parents’ eyes to what their kids were learning, and more parents have become concerned about school safety as school shootings occur across the country.

In the report, 34 percent of parents said they were more concerned about gun violence in schools since the pandemic.

Of those unsatisfied with their child’s schooling, 42 percent said bullying was a factor, and the same percentage said they don’t feel their kid is being prepared for the real world. Around one-third of the group, or 35 percent, also said they were concerned with a “woke” or liberal agenda in public schools.

Tiffany Sorya, the founder of the home schooling company Novel Education Group, agreed that the rise in school shootings and uptick in bullying is also convincing many parents their children are in better hands at home.

In 2023, there were 82 school shootings in the U.S., up from 22 in 2020, when many schools were closed due to the coronavirus, according to Statista.

Certain states, like Texas and California, are seeing surges for different reasons, she added.

“Many parents in Texas, and other states as well, feel that the traditional education route of putting their child into the school system is not serving their needs,” Sorya told Newsweek.

“For California, Novel Education Group is seeing a larger uptick in home schooling clients because we find that families are starting to trust the system less and want to explore other avenues of learning for their kids. Many parents feel what they can create for their kids is better than what the California educational system is providing. “