During the pandemic, something changed, and it never changed again. There are now empty chairs and leftover craft supplies in public preschool classrooms across the nation that used to have waiting lists. Most discussions about the drop in public school enrollment—more than a million students lost in just four years—focus on older children. However, the youngest students are also going missing, and their parents aren’t holding out for change.
Every morning at the kitchen table in Brentwood, California, seven-year-old Scarlett Laughlin completes her formal lessons in less than an hour. After that, she goes to a nearby farm to learn how to grow vegetables and raise goats. Erin Laughlin, her mother, correctly refers to it as a movement. Since 2019, the number of students enrolled in homeschooling has almost doubled, reaching three times the pre-pandemic rate in the most recent academic year. Not during lockdowns, but following them, 36 states recorded their highest homeschooling rates in history. This was not caused by the pandemic. All it did was provide parents with a glimpse of what was going on inside the structure.
Not everything they discovered was comforting. Concerns about the school environment are mentioned by 83% of families selecting alternatives. Dissatisfaction with academic instruction is indicated by 72% of respondents. According to a 2023 survey, 40% of students said they had been bullied, a 14% increase since 2019. The stakes are even more unclear for preschoolers, who can hardly explain what transpired during circle time. Whispered conversations at the playground, gut instinct, and the uneasy feeling that their four-year-old shouldn’t be returning home with such anxiety are all factors that parents are using to make decisions.
There is also a pragmatic aspect that doesn’t garner much attention. When they do exist, public preschool programs are frequently inflexible. The timetable is set in stone. Seldom does the curriculum take into consideration a child who needs more time with motor skills or who is reading early. Last year, over 70% of public schools said they had trouble filling teaching positions, with special education being one of the most challenging. Parents become aware when a preschool classroom rotates through substitutes after losing its lead teacher in the middle of the year. Children observe more.
Where do they intend to go? The responses differ greatly. Some families use homeschooling co-ops, which are unofficial networks where children socialize in small groups and parents share teaching responsibilities. Some opt for private Waldorf or Montessori schools, forgoing tuition in favor of a more deliberate philosophy. The number of microschools—small, autonomous classrooms with five to fifteen pupils—has skyrocketed. Online resources for early learners are thriving, but it’s still unclear how effective they are for kids younger than six. A growing number of families are choosing to completely forego formal preschool, believing that unstructured play and parental participation will be more beneficial than a letter recognition worksheet.
Fair points are brought up by critics. It is true that many homeschooling arrangements lack supervision. According to a 2021 Harvard study of more than 12,000 kids, homeschooled kids had a 23% lower chance of going to college. Eleven states have no requirements for testing, attendance records, or notification. Advocates refer to that as freedom. Critics refer to it as a risk to a child’s future. Depending on the family, both are most likely correct.
Public preschool systems are attempting to adjust in the meantime. These days, some districts provide flexible scheduling, free meals, and dual enrollment. The superintendent in Walker County, Alabama, begs families to simply show up, assuring them that they won’t even need to bring a pencil. However, the funding picture is dire, particularly in light of proposed federal cuts that target the very programs that rural and impoverished districts rely on the most.
It’s difficult to ignore the irony. Families with the greatest resources—those who can afford stay-at-home parents or private alternatives—are departing the quickest. With each child who leaves, the families who most need public preschool are trapped in a system that costs them money, teachers, and confidence. Whether parents have valid reasons to leave is not really the question. They obviously do. What happens to children whose parents are unable to make that decision is a more difficult question.
