Parents Voting With Their Feet ... For What?

Many families were horrified by learning losses they saw in their children when schools bungled remote learning during pandemic lockdowns. They were often equally disturbed by what they saw over their kids' shoulders in terms of lesson content. Recent polling finds that "nearly two-thirds (64%) of school parents say K-12 education is headed in the wrong direction, up eight points from last year." Thirty-six percent of parents say they would send their children to private school if they could, 14 percent would choose homeschooling, 10 percent prefer charter schools, and 40 percent would stick with traditional public schools. Existing private school parents report the highest satisfaction with their choice, followed by homeschoolers and charter school parents, with traditional public school parents at the rear.

The more families unhappy with traditional schooling who turned to private schools or decided to teach their own kids, either alone or in arrangements like learning pods and microschools, the more awareness of and comfort with education options increased. That has driven demand for reforms that ease access to education choices other than traditional public schools.

Writing for EdChoice, Brandon Ruder reported last week that "in just one year, the total number of students participating in private school choice programs across the nation skyrocketed, increasing by 25%."