A student takes a notebook out of her backpack. (Photo credit: Medios y Media/Getty Images)
It’s back to school season. Like every year, children are excited about new teachers, new experiences, new clothes, and maybe even some new friends. But for many families, back-to-school is not business as usual this year. In many cases, the temporary changes to education brought on by COVID-19 have become permanent.
Perhaps the biggest change is the number of families that have decided to homeschool their children. The number of families who homeschooled during the 2020-2021 school year doubled compared to the previous year.
The data on private school has been mixed. While the economic impacts of the coronavirus forced some private schools to close, other private schools have seen a sharp rise in enrollment from families looking for alternatives to government schools. It’s possible that strong private schools have taken advantage of a growth in demand while those that were already struggling were forced to close.
What is undeniable is that there has been significant change in the relationship between the public and their local public schools and it’s possible that this change is only just beginning. There are several reasons for this.
First, schooling from home gave parents a chance to peek behind the curtain of public education and many didn’t like what they saw. For years, parents have been concerned about sex ed curriculum that is too much too soon and tells children they can choose to be a boy or a girl. In addition, school districts and individual teachers are increasingly prioritizing components of critical race theory and curriculum like the 1619 Project, which teaches that the American Revolution was fought in order…