I was pleased to see this great article in Access Atlanta about the growing number of local homeschoolers and the various programs springing up to accommodate us. These programs are “part of a trend of home schoolers becoming involved in activities that would have once seemed the antithesis of learning in a private, family-based environment. What began with home educated students making their presence felt in scholastic sports leagues and youth orchestras has spread to cultural institutions.”
Along with listing information on various programs available to homeschoolers, the article also gives information on homeschooling numbers both nationally and state-wide:
In part, this development can be attributed to critical mass: In its most recent study in 2007, the U.S. Department of Education estimated some 1.5 million students nationwide were home schoolers, up from 850,000 in 1998; the private National Home Education Research Institute says the number may be as high as 2.5 million now. An earlier analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2003 found that 40.6 percent of all home schooled students lived in the South, nearly twice as many as in any other region of the country.
Officially, Georgia now boasts almost 40,000 homeschooled students! I have some questions about the bolded portion of the following paragraph, however:
In Georgia, 39,207 students were home schooled in 2009, according to numbers compiled by the state Department of Education. The highest concentration was in metro Atlanta, including 3,276 in Gwinnett and 2,942 in Cobb. Fulton’s total was listed as zero, suggesting the overall figure statewide is probably higher.
How is it that Fulton county lists no homeschoolers at all? Every county in Georgia should have the same reporting requirements. What is going on at the Fulton county superintendent’s officer that no homeschoolers are being reported? If any of my readers living and schooling in Fulton, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences about this.
It feels nice to be a part of something. Two years ago, this article would have meant nothing to me. A year ago, it might have piqued my curiosity, as we were just starting to explore alternatives to public school. Now, however, I’m part of a group that is “making [our] presence felt.” I love my new community of families and I’m so glad we have all these wonderful local resources available to us.
Given that Roswell, Alpharetta, John’s Creek and Milton are in Fulton, I have a hard time believing they have no homeschoolers. Maybe those parents are too busy playing tennis, though.
I saved the metro section for you today. It has a list of museums, etc, who have home schooling sessions.
I have a theory that they’re purposefully withholding that these students are homeschoolers and are claiming them as county public school students for their federal $, and they’ve only just not gotten busted. I was thinking about calling tomorrow to do a little investigative journalism.
If each County does its own thing… *shrug* Fulton might not want to admit it, either. Maybe they think they’ll lose state education money over it?
By the by, thanks for posting that. I had to send it to our Marketing Coordinator as another article that mentions the EHC
Each county is supposed to collect and report data in the same way, but obviously, that isn’t happening!
I’ve even searched the Access Atlanta page itself this morning and the article appears to be gone.
Reporting requirements are county based – I felt the need to do a bit of research on the Fulton County numbers — according to the Fulton County Schools website:
As far as attendance they quote the same 180 days law that we are all familiar with. They also have a copy of a Declaration of Intent as well as an Attendance Form with a Mail To address so I would only assume that people ARE actually sending in the forms.
Of course, all of this leads to the conclusion that Fulton County is NOT reporting to the state as they should.
Fulton is definitely subject to the same state-mandated reporting protocols for homeschoolers. I wonder if someone is about to be in trouble?