Nearly 1.1 million youths home-schooled

WASHINGTON — Almost 1.1 million students were home-schooled last year, their numbers pushed higher by parents frustrated over school conditions and wanting to include morality and religion with the English and math.

The estimated figure of students taught at home has grown 29 percent since 1999, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department.

In surveys, parents offered two main reasons for choosing home schooling: 31 percent cited concerns about the environment of regular schools, and 30 percent wanted the flexibility to teach religious or moral lessons. Third, at 16 percent, was dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools.

The figures were released Tuesday.

"There's potential for massive growth," said Ian Slatter, spokesman for the National Center for Home Education, which promotes home schooling and tracks laws that govern it.

"Home schooling is just getting started," he said. "We've gotten through the barriers of questioning the academic ability of home schools, now that we have a sizable number of graduates who are not socially isolated or awkward — they are good, high-quality citizens. We're getting that mainstream recognition and challenging the way education has been done."

In perspective, the 1.1 million home-schooled students accounts for a small part — 2.2 percent — of the school-age population in the United States, young people aged 5 through 17.

Slatter said the new figures accurately reflect the growth of home schooling but underestimate the number of children involved; his group says it is 2 million.

The Utah State Office of Education reported that during the 2002-03 school year, the most recent figures available, 7,037 children were being home-schooled in the state — more than 1,100 of them in Alpine School District.

In the government's view, home-schooling means students who spend at least part of their education at home and no more than 25 hours a week in public or private schools. Overall, more than four out of five home-schooled students spend no time at traditional schools.

A separate federal report showed a rising number of teenagers are skipping school for fear of getting hurt, even though reported school violence is down.