Private schools, homeschoolers booming as parents exit public schools

Eleanor Jones started homeschooling her learning-disabled son in the fall of 2020 when Maryland’s public schools were virtual — and she’s had no desire to send him back since they’ve reopened.

Now 10, her son was born with severe hearing loss due to a congenital inner ear anomaly. He wears cochlear implants to hear, suffers from a processing disorder and reads lips to understand others at his home in Westminster, 36 miles northwest of Baltimore.

“He didn’t handle masks well,” Ms. Jones said Friday. “We decided to continue homeschooling this year as things still don’t seem to be completely settled regarding COVID mandates, particularly in school settings.”

Ms. Jones is among the millions of parents who pulled their kids out of K-12 public schools to avoid hybrid learning and mask mandates during the pandemic. And their number is growing even as the pandemic fades.

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