New York families embrace homeschooling in growing numbers

Homeschooling has increased by more than 200% across New York over the past 15 years as families seek stronger academics, greater flexibility, and more time together, the New York Post reported Sept. 9.

New York recorded 53,905 homeschooled children during the 2025-26 school year, more than three times the number in 2009-10, according to data analyzed by the outlet. 

Since 2023, homeschool enrollment in the state has grown nearly 8%, outpacing the 3.1% increase in charter school attendance, the Post found.

The outlet highlighted that for some New York families, homeschooling offers the freedom to learn beyond a conventional classroom. Adrienne Jensen, who teaches three of her four children at home, said they spend much of their time learning outdoors and visiting museums and other institutions throughout the city.

“At this point, I can’t imagine making my kids spend all day, every day, inside the same four walls when there’s so much life happening out here,” Jensen told the Post.

New York’s growth reflects a broader change across the country. As Zeale News previously reported, the estimated share of school-age children being homeschooled nationwide rose from 2.8% before the COVID-19 pandemic to 5.92% during the 2023-24 school year.

New York parents also pointed to large classes and the difficulty of giving children individual attention.

“Every teacher and every parent knows that no two kids are the same, yet you have 30 or 35 kids in a classroom, all at different levels,” Laurie Block Spigel, New York City homeschooling advocate, told the outlet. “You’re failing the whole class.”

Academic quality was another factor. In a 2025 survey cited by the outlet, 21% of homeschooling parents told the New York City Department of Education that their children received a more rigorous education than public schools could offer.

That concern forms part of what Zilvinas Silenas, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, described as broader dissatisfaction with New York’s public education system.

“It might not be that all parents that homeschool think homeschooling is the best thing in the world,” Silenas told the Post. “It could also be that anything – even homeschooling – is better than New York’s government system.”

A Success Academy Charter Schools analysis cited by the Post found pass rates below 50% in math, reading, or both at 906 of the city’s more than 1,500 public schools last year.