By AlaskaWatchman.com

In the wake of COVID, homeschooling has skyrocketed across the United States, but no state has seen a greater increase than Alaska.

A new report by the Census Bureau includes surveys of all 50 states, showing that the appeal of home education has grew to record levels in 2020.

The Census data shows that 9.6% of Alaska households were homeschooling in the spring of 2020, shortly after COVID hit the state. Four months later, between Sept. 30 and Oct. 12, a whopping 27.5% of Alaska households reported that they were homeschooling. This represents “true homeschooling rather than virtual learning through a public or private school,” the Census report states.

While Alaska’s homeschool ranks are by far the highest in the nation, the vast majority of states saw dramatic increases.

The next highest homeschooling states were Oklahoma (20.1%), Florida (18.3%), Vermont (16.9%) and West Virginia (16.6%). Overall, 11.1% of all U.S. households reported that they were homeschooling by the fall of 2020. Just four months earlier, however, not a single state had even 10% of households homeschooling, and the national average was only 5.4%.

“It’s clear that in an unprecedented environment, families are seeking solutions that will reliably meet their health and safety needs, their childcare needs and the learning and socio-emotional needs of their children,” the Census report notes. “From the much-discussed “pandemic pods,” (small groups of students gathering outside a formal school setting for in-person instruction) to a reported influx of parent inquiries about stand-alone virtual schools, private schools and homeschooling organizations, American parents are increasingly open to options beyond the neighborhood school.”

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Alaska leads the way in national homeschool surge

Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 24 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.


3 Comments

  • Steve Peterson says:

    Oh my gosh! This may make the leftists’ heads explode! Kids with involved parents. Kids who are not being pummeled by progressive dogma all day.

  • Rebecca Crelley says:

    This is a huge win for families, for children and their future!

  • Nick says:

    Praise the Lord, families are waking up and realizing that government runs schools are liberal, leftist indoctrination camps. Any loving decent parent can do a way better job then the government can! I have been a teacher here in AK for 18 years, if anyone has seen the dumbed down communism forced upon kids it is me.