![]() Homeschooling numbers today remain well above pre-pandemic levels in most areas of the US. Census Bureau confirmed this exodus from district schools, reporting a doubling of the homeschooling population and a five-fold increase in the number of black homeschooled students, who became overrepresented in the homeschooling population compared to the overall K-12 public school population. They are choosing private education and charter schooling instead. Ninety-one percent of those students who left are from low-income, predominantly minority households. As Chicago PBS reported in January 2023, the Chicago Public Schools have lost 10 percent of their student body, or about 37,000 students, between the 20 school years. Beginning in 2020, more parents became aware of learning options beyond their local, traditional schools and became more receptive to different types of teaching and learning methods.Īccording to a 2023 analysis by Stanford economist Thomas Dee, more than 1.2 million students left local district schools between the 022 school years, with many of them going into homeschooling or private schooling settings-and staying there. The education disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic response supercharged this interest. ![]() Interest in alternative education models, such as homeschooling and microschooling, had been rising during the first two decades of the millennium, as I detailed in my 2019 book, Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom. These entrepreneurs are diverse in every possible way, from their geography and demographics, to their distinct educational philosophies and approaches, but they share a common commitment to meeting children’s educational needs beyond a traditional classroom. Over the past few months, I have crisscrossed the country meeting these entrepreneurs and visiting the programs they’ve built, as well as interviewing them for my twice-weekly LiberatED podcast and regular articles at Forbes and FEE.org. From the bustling boroughs of New York City to the suburban neighborhoods of Richmond, Virginia, to the busy Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas and the lively neighborhoods of Detroit, to the rural corner of Grants Pass, Oregon, everyday entrepreneurs are creating innovative, community-based educational models that enable each individual learner to flourish. This burst of education entrepreneurship is occurring in big and small communities across the country. They are virtual platforms, coaching services, tutoring centers, and similar programs that make it easier for parents and learners to step outside of a conventional classroom. They are small, public charter schools that seek to innovate while offering a tuition-free option for families. They are low-cost private schools that prioritize personalized learning. They are microschools, which are intentionally small, mixed-age learning settings with hired educators that emphasize individualized, mastery-based learning. They are hybrid schools that offer part-time, drop-off classes for homeschoolers. They are learning pods and homeschool collaboratives that bring together local families for shared instruction. Increasingly, these solutions feature out-of-the-box learning models that challenge the traditional schooling status quo. All are ordinary people who have taken on the extraordinary challenge of transforming K-12 education from the bottom up, with small, neighborhood solutions that are having a big, nationwide impact. Others are teachers who became fed up with one-size-fits-all standard schooling and set out to create better options. ![]() Some of these entrepreneurs are parents trying to solve an educational problem for their own families who decide to bring others along with them. Across the US, everyday education entrepreneurs are reimagining K-12 education in simple but profound ways. ![]()
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