Former President Donald Trump pledged Thursday to champion American homeschoolers if he should again become president in 2025.
“As president, it was my honor to support America’s homeschool families—and to protect the God-given right of every parent to be the steward of their children’s education,” Trump said in a new Agenda47 video released on social media and Rumble. “Since the China virus, America has seen an estimated 30% increase in homeschool enrollment.”
“When I am reelected, I will do everything I can to support parents who make the courageous choice of homeschool,” he emphasized. “Under the Trump tax cuts, we allowed families to use 529 education savings accounts to spend up to $10,000 a year tax-free on tuition for grades K through 12. This was a tremendous win for school choice—very important, school choice, remember that term—and yet, that benefit did not apply to homeschoolers.”
In his next term, Trump pledged, he will fight to “allow homeschool parents the same incredible benefits—$10,000 a year per child, completely tax-free—to spend on costs associated with homeschool education.”
“I will also work to ensure that every homeschool family is entitled to full access to the benefits available to non-homeschool students—including participating in athletic programs, clubs, after-school activities, educational trips, and more,” the former president said. “To every homeschool family, I will be your champion.”
Trump closed his message by urging homeschooling parents not to vote Democrat, warning that “they are looking to destroy you.”
Many American families began homeschooling their children during the COVID-19 pandemic due to shutdowns and the discovery of ideological, racial, and sexual content in schools. But data shows that post-pandemic, homeschooling is still on the rise.
Research from the Household Pulse Survey found that as of May 2023, 5.4% of American students are homeschooled, 9.6% attend private school, and 85% go to public school. Pre-pandemic, the Reason Foundation reports, 2.8% of American students were being homeschooled.
Research published by the Urban Institute found that in states that require homeschooling to be reported (21 states and Washington, D.C.), homeschool enrollment increased by 30% between the 2019 to 2020 and 2021 to 2022 school years. Pennsylvania (53%), Florida (43%), and New York (65%) saw “particularly large” increases in homeschool enrollment, the Urban Institute found.
“Notably, this dramatic increase reflects enrollment during the second full school year under the pandemic, when most schools returned to in-person instruction,” the Urban Institute report said. “These data indicate that the early homeschooling increase documented by a US Census Bureau survey persisted into the 2021–22 school year.”
Trump enjoys a large lead in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, with 56% in the RealClearPolitics polling average, leading the second- and third-place candidates, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (13%) and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy (6.6%), by a wide margin.
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