Connection: Home-Schooling On Rise

More and more Washington families are teaching their children at home or enrolling them in private schools, but so far there’s no obvious movement such as Exodus 2000.

“I’ve heard absolutely nothing and I don’t believe it could happen in the near future,” said Mary Brown, the administrator who oversees home-school registration in Spokane School District 81.

“They’d all have to stay home from work, and that’d change the entire culture.”

Still, an increasing number of children are being educated at home.

In Spokane, the number of families homeschooling has more than tripled in the past decade, with statistics showing 605 students now involved. Educators suspect not all families register as required by Washington state law.

The most recent Washington state statistics show nearly 20,000 students are registered for home-schooling. In Idaho, families aren’t required to register.

Enrollment in private schools in Washington is growing twice as fast as in public schools, and officials say the popularity of Christian schools is part of the reason.