Common Core Drives Home School Surge

All over the nation, there’s a growing number of parents keeping their children out of the public schools, opting, instead, to explore home schooling. In fact, just in the last 8 or 9 years, according to the US Department of Education, the number of parents choosing homeschool over the public schools DOUBLED from about 850 thousand to nearly 1.8 MILLION.

Parents that were surveyed listed all kinds of reasons for the move. Many of them said safety, drug abuse and peer pressure were top concerns. Others pointed to religious restrictions in the public schools. In recent days, almost all of them are pointing at Common Core.

One of those mothers is Danielle Widney, from East Ramapo, New York. She’s a college graduate, with a Master’s in Electrical Engineering, and even SHE says the Common Core math doesn’t make any sense.

“It’s too many tests and too many people telling me what is good for my children,” she said.

There’s such a big wave of families leaving the public school system, there’s even a new independent film covering the exodus, called ‘Class Dismissed.” All of the usual concerns of crowded classrooms, teacher layoffs, budget cuts and failing grades are only made worse by the complications of the Common Core.

Homeschooling is not nearly as convenient as giving in, and sending your kids to public school. Parents already have to pay property taxes, but many of them are willing to spend money on TOP of that to send kids to private school or teach them at home. Plus, homeschooling usually requires at least one parent has to stay home, unavailable to bring home a second income. Even amid financial restraints and government obstacles, a growing number of parents are taking action.

Not every state is jumping on board with the federally-generated Common Core either. Indiana has already pulled out of the program. With so many parents pulling their kids from school, it’s only a matter of time until several more state legislatures echo the sentiment of their taxpaying parents: Expel the Common Core from the classroom.