A new report from the U.S. Department of Education offers the most recent data on students who are homeschooled and those who attend public charter schools. The report also documents the historical trends in homeschooling and charter school enrollments. Some of the data is broken down by racial and ethnic group.
In 2016, 3.3 percent of all students ages 5 to 17 were homeschooled. This is about double the percentage from the turn of the century. However, there has been a slight downward trend in homeschooling since 2012.
For African Americans, 1.9 percent of all students ages 5 to 17 were homeschooled in 2016. This is half the rate for White American students. The percentage of White and Black students who are homeschooled is about double the rate than was the case in 1999.
In the 2016-17 academic year, African Americans made up 15.3 percent of all students in the nation’s public schools. But Blacks were 26.5 percent of all students enrolled in public charter schools. In the 2000-01 academic year, Blacks were 33.2 percent of all charter students. During the 2000-01 to 2016-17 period, the percentage of all charter school students who were of Hispanic origin nearly doubled from 16.6 percent to 32.6 percent.
The full report, School Choice in the United States: 2019, may be downloaded by clicking here.
