Quantcast

Lubbock Times

Monday, December 23, 2024

State Senate District 28 sees 249.7% hike in homeschooling over 2 decades

Homeschooldesk

The state Senate district represented by Charles Perry (R-Lubbock) saw a 249.7 percent increase in the number of seventh- through 12-graders leaving public school campuses for homeschooling between 1997 and 2019, according to Texas Education Agency (TEA) data.

On a year-over-year basis, that represents a 6.1 percent hike in students leaving the public schools for homeschooling, the TEA data indicates. The number of students opting out of public schools and into homeschooling in 1997-1998 was 374, compared to 1,308 in 2018-2019, the data shows. 

The trend in Senate District 28 mirrors what has been happening in other districts around the state, the TEA reports. Over this time period, transfers from public schools to homeschooling in Texas rose 228 percent, while at the same time public school enrollment went up only 41 percent, the Texas Home School Coalition (THSC) reported.

In the 2018-2019 school year alone, the number of students leaving Texas public schools to be homeschooled stood at nearly 23,000, according to the TEA. And the THSC expects the 2020 numbers to show that withdrawals from the public system to homeschooling are continuing at a record-breaking pace.

To help the state to better adapt to the rise in homeschooling, some state legislators have introduced legislation to allow home-schooled children to take part in the University Interscholastic League, which provides activities including sports, music and debate teams

The homeschooling trends dovetail with data from a Texas 2036 report that concluded 242,000 fewer students were enrolled in Texas public schools in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic compared to the previous year. That represents a year-over-year drop of 4 percent, according to the report.

---

Withdrawals to Homeschooling by State Senate District

Senate DistrictSenator1997-1998 Withdrawals2018-2019 Withdrawals1997-2019 WithdrawalsWithdrawal Totals for Last 5 YearsCompound Annual Growth Rate1997-2019 Growth Rate
20Juan Hinojosa (D-McAllen)906737,9052,94110.1%646.1%
27Eddie Lucio Jr. (D-Brownsville)1016486,3722,8849.3%543.3%
21Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo)1671,04414,5885,1269.1%524.2%
14Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin)2241,24917,5337,3348.5%457.9%
12Jane Nelson (R-Flower Mound)2441,26424,1168,9838.1%417.2%
5Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown)2861,36018,4696,1917.7%375.8%
1Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola)4051,82121,6236,4847.4%350.0%
24Dawn Buckingham (R-Lakeway)5302,17631,45510,2607.0%310.8%
30Drew Springer (R-Muenster)4501,84628,5158,4997.0%310.1%
25Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels)4811,92028,8549,0836.8%298.9%
6Carol Alvarado (D-Houston)3711,44529,3048,6116.7%289.4%
4Brandon Creighton (R-Conroe)4761,68929,2638,1636.2%254.7%
28Charles Perry (R-Lubbock)3741,30818,0455,7266.1%249.7%
15John Whitmire (D-Houston)4541,58533,1419,0666.1%249.2%
19Roland Gutierrez (D-Bexar)5221,80124,3428,9936.1%244.9%
7Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston)4571,42329,4198,2655.6%211.2%
26José Menéndez (D-San Antonio)5131,53421,6956,9835.4%199.1%
13Borris L. Miles (D-Houston)3451,02616,4306,0775.3%197.1%
18Lois Kolkhorst (R-Brenham)5021,47630,7107,2635.3%194.0%
17Joan Huffman (R-Houston)6341,75933,1059,9615.0%177.5%
29César J. Blanco (D-El Paso)1253443,7131,3444.9%174.2%
31Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo)4181,14214,8884,6704.9%173.5%
9Kelly Hancock (D-Fort Worth)4141,09622,4335,3344.7%164.9%
11Larry Taylor (R-League City)36993217,7364,4194.5%152.4%
10Beverly Powell (D-Fort Worth)35686319,3724,3294.3%142.3%
23Royce West (D-Dallas)24556013,5983,5924.0%128.3%
3Robert Nichols (R-Jacksonville)7471,62030,4248,0613.8%116.8%
22Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury)5211,03022,7135,1393.3%97.5%
8Angela Paxton (R-McKinney)44172012,7763,2402.4%63.3%
2Bob Hall (R-Edgewood)7671,16324,9425,3782.0%51.7%
16Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas)48857613,6333,4220.8%18.0%
Source: Texas Education Agency

ORGANIZATIONS IN THIS STORY

!RECEIVE ALERTS

The next time we write about any of these orgs, we’ll email you a link to the story. You may edit your settings or unsubscribe at any time.
Sign-up

DONATE

Help support the Metric Media Foundation's mission to restore community based news.
Donate

MORE NEWS