The COVID-19 pandemic has coincided with a shift away from public schools and toward homeschooling.
According to the Albany Times Union, “the average school district [outside New York City] lost 23 students to homeschooling” since the outbreak of the pandemic. The five upstate school districts that have seen the biggest homeschooling-related exodus are Arkport (Steuben County), Sherman (Chautauqua County) Rochester, Kingston, and Schenectady. In these five districts, an average of 284 students have transitioned out of public schools and into homeschooling since the COVID-19 outbreak. Across New York, 54,000 students are being homeschooled.
The Times Union indicates that over the past few years, the pandemic was the biggest reason families chose to begin homeschooling. Some families believed that public schools were placing too many pandemic-related restrictions on their students, while others believed that public schools were not being sufficiently careful.
While the Times Union did not mention it, another reason some families have moved toward homeschooling is that parents have grown uncomfortable with the subject matter that their children are being taught. Pandemic-related school closures and hybrid school schedules have helped some parents to become more familiar with the curricula being used at their children’s schools. In particular, lessons on gender and race have created deep discomfort among parents.
New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms encourages Christian parents to take advantage of the various schooling options that are available to them. In New York, parents are free to homeschool their children or to send them to Christian schools, private schools, charter schools, or traditional public schools. Some Christian parents may find that the homeschool option or the Christian school option works best for their children. Parents whose children attend public schools are encouraged to be vigilant, to get involved in their children’s schools, to protect their children from ungodly instruction, and to be a force for good.