Early data reveals that many families in Texas are leaning toward having their children homeschooled, a press release from the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) stated Wednesday.
THSC’s press release said that call and email volume doubled in the last full week of July, rising from 536 the week before to 1016 as families in Texas prepared for the upcoming school year. This trend increased the following week and call and email volume rose to 1232. (RELATED: The Data Is In And Homeschooling Numbers Have Skyrocketed Since The Pandemic Began)
This data points to a likely increase in homeschooling. The latest number is an all-time high for THSC that surpasses even the fall of 2020, when COVID-19 school restrictions happened nationwide because of the pandemic. Those numbers from the THSC correlated with the amount of Texans homeschooling their children nearly tripled, from 4.5 to 12.3%, by October of that year according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“In 2020 we saw the largest surge in homeschooling in history. It appears that renewed concern about COVID-19 may be about to replicate a similar trend for 2021,” Tim Lambert, President of THSC, said. “We are also seeing thousands of families decide to continue homeschooling because of how well it has worked for their family. Our team is here to welcome these new families into homeschooling and help them with everything they need to be successful.”
Just the #fridayfacts! pic.twitter.com/sX3GGPvAd3
— Texas Home School Coalition (@thsc) July 23, 2021
Concerns over the delta variant seem to be facilitating the latest interest in homeschooling. The newest strain has been classified as more transmissible and has resulted in a surge of cases across the country. It has led to new masking guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It has caused parents to make adjustments as they plan for their children to return to schools in August and September.