After the nationwide lock downs and closures of schools more and more parents are seeing that public schools, in general, are failing the...
After the nationwide lock downs and closures of schools more and more parents are seeing that public schools, in general, are failing their kids and many are opting to homeschool moving forward.
Many of those parents however are shocked to find out that public schools are pushing back and making it more and more difficult, if next to impossible, to withdraw their children.
Via Fox News:
Coronavirus restrictions hit public schools especially hard and, with no clear end in sight, the loss of students only adds to the already vulnerable loss in funds.
A RealClear Opinion Research survey shows that 40 percent of families are more likely to homeschool when lockdown restrictions lift, a significant increase from the 2.5 million parents who were educating their kids at home before stay-at-home orders were put in place.
T.J. Schmidt, a lawyer for the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which provides legal services to help parents meet requirements for transitioning children from public school to homeschool, said he’s noticed an uptick in the number of parents trying to pull their kids from public school.
And public schools, he said, are pushing back.
“We see this across the country,” Schmidt said. “I’ve had school officials attempt to prevent or dissuade parents from pulling their kids out.”
He said schools have been unable to process the paperwork to withdraw students from the public school system.
“There’s two main reasons … school officials are fearful of losing too many students to homeschooling, and the second reason is perhaps a staffing issue, just a lacking staffing issue to process these withdrawals. Not always an issue of trying to stop parents from homeschooling but there is a significant part of that involved.”
Public school districts receive funding based on the number of students enrolled so if 20-40% of families actually decide to homeschool that would mean a big financial hit for the districts.
Makes sense they would push back and try and slow the exodus.
That said these efforts to slow the exodus is bound to backfire with more parents digging in their heels demanding their children be set free from failing schools.
Public educators only have themselves to blame.
Our public education system has been in decline for a long time, with political correctness guiding the curriculum and approach to discipline, and parents are right to demand a new path.
Besides, for many children homeschooling offers a far superior education at a fraction of the cost to taxpayers.
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