Growing Ranks of Military Homeschoolers Get Defense Department Support
Last week, the Department of Defense ordered a review of the support it offers to military families that homeschool their children. DIY education is very popular among military personnel, who have long chosen homeschooling at roughly double the rate of the general population: 12 percent by the latest figures. They favor it for all the reasons parents have increasingly turned to directing their children’s education, including academic quality, philosophy, flexibility, and safety concerns. For families subject to frequent relocation, homeschooling also provides kids with continuity. They may also see it as an effective way to escape fruitless battles over school policy and curricula.
A Popular Option Gets Wider Support
“The Department is currently reviewing options to support expanding educational choice for military-connected families, as directed by [Executive Order] 14191,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a May memorandum. “Homeschooling offers an individualized approach for students and highlights the significant role parents play in the educational process. I hereby direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to conduct a Department-wide review of its current support for homeschooling military-connected families, as well as best practices, including the feasibility of providing facilities or access to other resources for those students.”
The January 29 executive order from President Trump that Hegseth referenced directed him to “review any available mechanisms under which military-connected families may use funds from the Department of Defense to attend schools of their choice, including private, faith-based, or public charter schools.”
In that order and elsewhere, the Trump administration signaled its commitment to school choice across the country. But choice is especially important to military families which, on average, relocate every two to three years. With traditional public schools and even private schools, that can entail a lot of social disruption as well as switching among classrooms teaching at different paces, with varying styles, and
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