Homeschooling is on the rise in Minnesota: See the numbers in your district

Jaden Magnuson began homeschooling her 9-year-old son last fall instead of sending him back to elementary school in the Elk River district.

“It is a leap of faith, but one that a lot of other families are taking,” said Magnuson, whose worries ranged from school bus bullying to ideology overshadowing academics.

The number of homeschool students in Minnesota has jumped about 18% since the 2022-23 school year. That’s an especially large increase considering that overall K-12 school enrollment is up less than 1% over the same time period.

More than 31,000 of the state’s roughly 900,000 students are now homeschooled.

Homeschooling numbers first boomed nationwide in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the trend has had staying power, something that school leaders and homeschool advocates credit to the lingering effects of the educational disruptions of 2020. If it continues, it will put more pressure on traditional public school districts.

“The pandemic was a major catalyst for some of this exceptional growth in homeschooling,” said Rob Prigge, executive director of the Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators (MACHE), a group first established in the ’80s. “It used to be very much under the radar, but COVID changed that.”

Distance learning thrust education into the spotlight, fueling cultural debates and parents’ worries about what ideas and values students are exposed to in class. Ongoing concern about learning loss as well as mental health and behavior issues among students has also pushed more parents to explore what’s best for their own child, both academically and emotionally, school leaders say. Plus, pandemic-era remote work led many parents to reprioritize flexibility in their family schedules.

While many families cite religious values as one of the reasons they homeschool, it’s often no longer the sole or primary driver of the decision, Prigge said.

A 2023 survey from the National Center for Education Statistics showed that homeschoolers most frequently cited a concern about the school learning environment as the reason for their decision to teach at home.

The boost in popularity of homeschooling also has ripple effects on the larger education system. Any concentrated or rapid shift in enrollment from traditional public schools can hurt districts’ budgets because state funding is doled out on a per-pupil basis. Enrollment declines exacerbate budget shortfalls that have grown wider in recent years as costs rise and one-time pandemic relief funds dry up.

The resulting cuts to programs or staff that lead to larger class sizes can push more families out of a district, said Dayle Annand, MACHE’s director of outreach.

“It’s not the school district’s fault when they have to make those tough calls,” Annand said. “But it can cause frustration among families if they realize their children’s needs aren’t being met.”

Anoka-Hennepin, the state’s largest school district and one that has had to make cuts to close budget shortfalls, saw the number of homeschool students in the district more than double from the 2022-23 school year to now.

Superintendent Cory McIntyre said the district does not have data to give a “definitive answer for the increase.” A community survey shows high approval ratings for the district’s teachers and programs, he said, but resources and networks for homeschooled students are improving and “parents are making that choice based on their needs and the needs of their student.”

In Minnesota, homeschooled students can still participate in extracurricular activities or athletics in their resident district, though the district may require a fee.

Overall, homeschooling is paid for primarily by parents, but homeschoolers in Minnesota can receive tax credits or deductions to help cover textbooks or other lesson materials, which may include private online curriculum. Online learning through a state-approved online school, however, is a public school option and those students aren’t categorized as homeschooled.

Mark Raymond, the superintendent of Dassel-Cokato Public Schools — a district where homeschooling is especially popular — said he’s always looking for ways to partner with the families who homeschool.

“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong decision in education as long as all students are receiving what they need when they need it,” Raymond said. “Sometimes our traditional system doesn’t meet the needs of families or students, and when we can partner with them to offer what we can, that’s great for us.”

Homeschools in Minnesota do not need to be accredited and state standards set for public schools do not apply.

The state does not provide curriculum for homeschools but requires instruction in the basic subject areas of reading and writing, math, science, health, and social studies, including history, geography, government and citizenship. And students must take an annual standardized test agreed to by the local school district’s superintendent.

Homeschool cooperatives — designed to bring a group of homeschoolers together, often once a week — can also offer students additional classes, activities and social opportunities. The Dassel-Cokato area has at least three co-ops run by parents that together serve a couple of hundred students. The public school district there has about 2,100 students.

“We’ve always had a large homeschool population,” Raymond said. “It makes it easier to offer a quality homeschool experience when you have other people around you to offer assistance and support.”

Abby Barberg, one of the leaders of HOPE Co-op, which meets weekly in Cokato, agreed. The co-op model and extracurricular options at the public schools have helped dispel negative stereotypes about homeschoolers lacking socialization, she said.

People see the students out in the community on field trips, volunteering or playing on a sports team. The model of staying at home and learning all subjects from one parent is rare now, Prigge said.

“The definition is no longer inherent in the word ‘homeschool,’” he said, adding that he and other school leaders across the state have had discussions on how best to refer to and categorize the schooling models.

In the Twin Cities metro area, some of the biggest jumps in homeschool numbers in the last two years were concentrated in the pockets of Anoka and Wright counties.

Compared to the size of their student body, some small central Minnesota districts, such as Verndale, New York Mills and Paynesville, have seen dramatic increases as well.

In Elk River, Magnuson said a note from the school asking about preferred pronouns was what ultimately pushed her and her husband to choose homeschooling over public school. Her son wasn’t reading at grade level and was frequently getting pulled from class to sit in a calming room, she said.

“I just felt like that priority and the environment wasn’t helping him learn what he needed to,” Magnuson said.

She said her son now eagerly starts his school work in the morning and no longer worries about getting bullied on the bus.

“What works for us isn’t going to work for everybody,” she said. “But a lot of parents who have concerns do want to see if this works for their family.”

MaryJo Webster of The Minnesota Star Tribune contributed to this story.