Across the board, homeschool parents support school choice, survey reveals

Despite coming from a range of political affiliations, most homeschool families support school choice policies, a new poll finds.

“Homeschool parents want what every parent wants – the freedom to access the best education for their child as possible,” said Matt Frendewey, vice president of strategy at the yes. every kid. foundation. “They recognize the value of educational freedom and programs that put parents in charge of their child’s education. This data shows they’re leading the charge for programs like ESAs [education savings accounts] that give families the flexibility they need.”

The poll compiled responses from 1,000 homeschool parents nationwide.

More than half (58%) of respondents were in their first or second year of homeschooling, demonstrating the persistent rise in home education since the pandemic.  

Republicans and Democrats were each well represented (40% and 47% respectively) and respondents were similarly split between conservative (37%), moderate (32%) and liberal (28%). 

Nearly 40% of respondents also identified as racial minorities. 

Parents gave a wide variety of reasons for choosing to homeschool.  

Many cited concerns about safety and violence (47%), wanting more flexibility in schedule and curriculum (45% and 41% respectively), or being dissatisfied with public school academics (38%).  

Only 21% said they wanted more religious/Christian instruction. 

And while 30% were worried about public schools being too politically liberal, 21% were also worried about public schools being too conservative. 

But despite the broad political spectrum, the surveyed parents largely supported school choice. 

A strong majority said they approved of ESAs (84%) and education tax credits (88%). 

Most (89%) also thought homeschool students should have access to their public schools on a course-by-course basis. 

When it came to the broader education landscape, 97% of respondents agreed it is important for elected leaders to improve K-12 education. 

One-in-five parents even said it was the single most important issue for their state legislature to be addressing.