The new school year is almost upon us! Many people in Texas are beginning to think about and make plans for school this fall. While some states are following the plan from last year of requiring masks for all students and teachers in public schools, Texas will not do so.
The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics both strongly recommend that all students over age two should wear masks all day at school.
In Texas, the decision for children to wear masks will legally be up to the parents. However, even though legally it is the parent’s decision, there will doubtless be pressure on parents and students because of the hyper political nature of the issue.
Speaking about Austin-area school districts, Austin Mayor Steve Adler stated, “If it were possible, without getting involved in litigation with the governor, it’s pretty clear that our health authority and our county judge and I would order right now that all children in school wear masks. Under 12, they can’t get vaccinated, so they should be wearing masks. Teachers or guests that have contact with them should be wearing masks.” (source)
With a new variant of COVID-19 making the rounds, we are having a similar discussion to last year regarding how the public schools will handle students. Vaccinations are a hot topic of discussion, as well as whether or not many children who were homeschooled last year will continue to do so or whether they will return to public schools.
This year there will be fewer options for remote learning from home by the public schools as was the case last year since legislation that would have funded an expansion of that program was not successful in the Texas legislature.
At THSC, our phones are ringing off the wall, as is typical for this time of year. Many families are telling us they plan to homeschool for the first time, and others are planning to continue to do so after a great experience for their families last year. Many families experienced the freedom of pursuing a schedule that was designed for the needs of their specific family rather than that of an institution.
Even in a post-pandemic world, homeschooling continues to rise as parents have become empowered to take charge of their children’s education.
The US Census Bureau did a number of polls last spring and fall to track the number of students who were homeschooling and for the first time broke those numbers out by state. Homeschooling in Texas exploded from about 3% in 2019 to 4.5% in the spring of 2020 to 12.3% in the fall. This corresponded to a significant drop in public school enrollment last fall.
The question now is how many of those homeschooled students will return to the public school and how many will begin or continue to get their education at home?
Nicholas Zill writing at the Institute for Family Studies said that prior to the pandemic “…A frequent rationale was dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at the locally available schools. Two-thirds of homeschooled students had parents who gave this explanation for their decision, and 13% chose it as the most important reason. This basis for home tutelage also remains salient. It may be becoming even more so, given the movement to adopt ‘anti-racist’ instructional programs in urban public schools.”
For so many reasons, parents continue to choose to homeschool their children, even after the pandemic mindset is waning. As homeschooling continues to be on the rise, so does opposition to homeschooling.
We believe that parents should be the last word on how their children are raised and how they are educated. We will continue to fight on all fronts to make sure that parents keep those rights in Texas!
Become a THSC member today to help us make sure homeschooling remains free across Texas, as the movement continues to grow.
The new school year is almost upon us! Many people in Texas are beginning to think about and make plans for school this fall. While some states are following the plan from last year of requiring masks for all students and teachers in public schools, Texas will not do so.
The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics both strongly recommend that all students over age two should wear masks all day at school.
In Texas, the decision for children to wear masks will legally be up to the parents. However, even though legally it is the parent’s decision, there will doubtless be pressure on parents and students because of the hyper political nature of the issue.
Speaking about Austin-area school districts, Austin Mayor Steve Adler stated, “If it were possible, without getting involved in litigation with the governor, it’s pretty clear that our health authority and our county judge and I would order right now that all children in school wear masks. Under 12, they can’t get vaccinated, so they should be wearing masks. Teachers or guests that have contact with them should be wearing masks.” (source)
With a new variant of COVID-19 making the rounds, we are having a similar discussion to last year regarding how the public schools will handle students. Vaccinations are a hot topic of discussion, as well as whether or not many children who were homeschooled last year will continue to do so or whether they will return to public schools.
This year there will be fewer options for remote learning from home by the public schools as was the case last year since legislation that would have funded an expansion of that program was not successful in the Texas legislature.
At THSC, our phones are ringing off the wall, as is typical for this time of year. Many families are telling us they plan to homeschool for the first time, and others are planning to continue to do so after a great experience for their families last year. Many families experienced the freedom of pursuing a schedule that was designed for the needs of their specific family rather than that of an institution.
Even in a post-pandemic world, homeschooling continues to rise as parents have become empowered to take charge of their children’s education.
The US Census Bureau did a number of polls last spring and fall to track the number of students who were homeschooling and for the first time broke those numbers out by state. Homeschooling in Texas exploded from about 3% in 2019 to 4.5% in the spring of 2020 to 12.3% in the fall. This corresponded to a significant drop in public school enrollment last fall.
The question now is how many of those homeschooled students will return to the public school and how many will begin or continue to get their education at home?
Nicholas Zill writing at the Institute for Family Studies said that prior to the pandemic “…A frequent rationale was dissatisfaction with the academic instruction at the locally available schools. Two-thirds of homeschooled students had parents who gave this explanation for their decision, and 13% chose it as the most important reason. This basis for home tutelage also remains salient. It may be becoming even more so, given the movement to adopt ‘anti-racist’ instructional programs in urban public schools.”
For so many reasons, parents continue to choose to homeschool their children, even after the pandemic mindset is waning. As homeschooling continues to be on the rise, so does opposition to homeschooling.
We believe that parents should be the last word on how their children are raised and how they are educated. We will continue to fight on all fronts to make sure that parents keep those rights in Texas!
Become a THSC member today to help us make sure homeschooling remains free across Texas, as the movement continues to grow.
