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Children Leaving School β What America's 3.4 Million Homeschoolers Are Telling Us
"We don't send our kids to school."
A few years ago, hearing that might have signaled an unusual family. But in 2025β2026, it describes American reality more than ever. Approximately 3.4 million children in the United States are learning outside of public schools β that's 6β7% of all school-age children. And this number is growing at triple the pre-pandemic pace.
What is happening?
Table of Contents
- What the Numbers Show
- Why Are Families Leaving School?
- Which States Are Growing Fastest?
- Public Perception Is Shifting
- What This Means for Public Education
1. What the Numbers Show
According to the latest report from the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy analyzing the 2025β2026 school year, the number of homeschooled students in the US is estimated at approximately 3.3β3.4 million β nearly double the pre-pandemic figure from the 2019β2020 school year.
The growth rate is striking. Homeschool enrollment grew at an average of 4.9β5.4% annually in 2024β2025 β about three times the pre-pandemic average of 1.8β2%. What makes this especially significant is that the trend continues even after schools reopened. Kids went back to school, but many didn't stay.
The share of all school-age children being homeschooled has also doubled β from about 3% in 2019 to 6β7% in 2025β2026. Picture a public school classroom of 15 students: statistically, one of them has a peer learning outside of school entirely.
2. Why Are Families Leaving School?
Synthesizing the Johns Hopkins report and multiple survey studies, three primary reasons emerge for choosing homeschool.
First: Concern about safety
83% of homeschooling parents cited "concern about a safe environment" as their most important reason. School violence, gun incidents, and peer culture anxieties combine into a powerful deterrent. In a country where school shootings remain a recurring news story, parental fear directly shapes educational decisions.
Second: Frustration with learning gaps
NAEP 2026 data shows that reading and math scores still haven't recovered to pre-2019 levels. The learning loss from the pandemic years remains unaddressed, years later. Parents who lost trust in schools to close those gaps began stepping in themselves.
Third: Curriculum disagreements
American education has been riven by intensifying political battles over curriculum content. Some parents feel schools are too secular; others feel they impose particular ideological values. The desire to teach children according to one's own beliefs and values has become a powerful driver toward homeschooling.
3. Which States Are Growing Fastest?
The breakout states show this phenomenon isn't confined to any one region or demographic.
| State | 2024β2025 Growth Rate |
|---|---|
| South Carolina | +21.5% |
| Vermont | +17% |
| Ohio | +15% |
| New Hampshire | +14.5% |
| Georgia | +12.9% |
States with the highest overall homeschool rates are Alaska (10.4%), North Carolina (9%), and South Dakota (6.5%). This is a nationwide phenomenon cutting across political affiliation, geography, and demographics.
And crucially: 36% of reporting states set all-time homeschool enrollment records in 2024β2025 β exceeding even pandemic peaks.
4. Public Perception Is Shifting
Homeschooling was once associated primarily with religious families or those in unusual circumstances. That image is changing.
The most striking shift is in social attitudes. As of 2025, 70% of parents of school-age children view homeschooling favorably β even if they haven't chosen it for their own children. This represents a sea change from even a decade ago.
The infrastructure enabling homeschooling has also matured dramatically. Online learning platforms, homeschool co-ops, and private curriculum services have proliferated. Where parents once had to build their own materials and teach alone, they now have access to structured curricula, online instruction, and social programs through homeschool networks.
AI tools are also a new variable. As personalized instruction becomes technologically easier, more parents feel confident saying "I can teach my child better at home than school can."
5. What This Means for Public Education
The homeschooling surge poses uncomfortable questions to the public school system. It cannot be dismissed as a fringe choice when 6β7% of children β and growing β are involved.
Parents are asking: Does school keep my child safe? Does it genuinely close learning gaps? Does it educate in ways consistent with our family's values?
When public education fails to answer these questions convincingly, families take matters into their own hands. The growth of homeschooling is the result.
Context differs by country, of course. In Korea, over-reliance on private tutoring (hagwons) tends to dominate parental anxiety more than homeschooling alternatives. But the underlying question β "Is school the best thing for my child?" β is universal.
America's experiment invites all of us to reconsider what we expect from public education, and what we should demand of it.
What do you think about homeschooling? What is the most urgent problem public education needs to solve? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Recommended Reading
- 273 Million Children Out of School: UNESCO's 2026 Global Education Report
- When the Classroom Becomes a Healing Space: America's Youth Mental Health Crisis 2026
Sources
- Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy. (2025). Homeschool Growth: 2024β2025. https://education.jhu.edu/edpolicy/policy-research-initiatives/homeschool-hub/homeschool-growth-2024-2025/
- Reason.com. (November 2025). Homeschooling hits record numbers. https://reason.com/2025/11/19/homeschooling-hits-record-numbers/
- Brighterly. (2026). Homeschooling Statistics 2025β2026 in the US. https://brighterly.com/blog/homeschooling-statistics/
- Family Council. (December 2025). Home School Numbers Hit Record Highs Across America. https://familycouncil.org/2025/12/12/home-school-numbers-hit-record-highs-across-america/