The Politics of Homeschooling

Abstract

Homeschooling has developed from a small, isolated, parent-led effort to a vibrant national movement to lobby for and legalize K-12 education at home in all 50 states. Although a majority of homeschool families are Evangelical Christians, the others come from a variety of religious and nonreligious backgrounds, giving homeschooling a broad national political and social base. Homeschool families have organized regional and national associations, gained children’s access to after-school and even during-school classes and activities in local public schools, and increasingly gained entry to college. About 1.35 million children in the country are being officially home-schooled, making it a vital and expanding form of private education and political force in U.S. society.