Homeschooling Families Shouldn’t Fear School Choice Policies – Foundation for Economic Education

Homeschooling families have long been concerned about increasing regulations, especially after past instances where families faced legal threats for educating their children at home. However, recent trends show a shift toward deregulation and greater educational freedom, often coinciding with the rise of school-choice policies like education savings accounts (ESAs). Research suggests that policies allowing homeschoolers to participate in public school programs or access private school choice do not lead to more regulation, and in fact, regulation has decreased over time. States with robust school-choice policies, like Florida and Arizona, often have lower homeschooling regulations compared to states without such policies, like Massachusetts. This suggests that expanding school choice may actually protect homeschooling freedoms, as seen in Wyoming, which recently deregulated homeschooling alongside enacting a universal school-choice program.