• Local Produce
  • Buy Local
  • Local Seafood
  • Local Food
  • Local Music
  • Local Art
  • Local Churches

CAPE CHARLES MIRROR

Reflections on Cape Charles and the Eastern Shore

  • Local Services
  • Local Rentals
  • Local Employment
  • News
  • Opinion
  • Classifieds
  • Pets
  • Contact Us
  • Rant and Rave
  • Asses&Villains

Will the Omicron Variant Push Parents away from Public Schools?

December 5, 2021 by Wayne Creed Leave a Comment

“Even before the World Health Organization labeled the Omicron coronavirus strain a new ‘variant of concern’ Friday, school closures were continuing to increase across the country,” wrote Asher Lehrer-Small for The 74. “Last week, 621 schools across 58 districts announced new closures for a variety of reasons including teacher burnout, staffing shortages and virus outbreaks, according to counts from Burbio, a data service that has tracked school policy through the pandemic. Since the start of the academic year, 9,313 campuses across 916 districts nationwide have added extra days off.”

Virus fatigue is leading both teachers and parents to seek out other education options. In my latest Forbes article, I highlight the growth of the microschool movement, an educational trend that was gaining momentum prior to 2020 and has since taken off. Many teachers are burned out over ongoing coronavirus policies and staffing shortages that make their job more difficult, and some of them are leaving public schools to create smaller, more personalized microschools. Similarly, school mask mandates and related policies are prompting some parents to pull their children from district schools and enroll them in microschools or other learning settings where there is more choice and flexibility.

The wave of ill-advised school shutdowns last year compelled tens of thousands of parents to rethink their children’s education. When the classroom was virtually forced into their homes via Zoom, parents realized just how abysmal the public schools really were.

From 2012 to 2019, the homeschooling rate hovered around 3.3 percent of K–12 US students. That figure rose to 5.4 percent in spring 2020. By the following fall, that figure had more than doubled to 11.1 percent.

Among black families, the increase was particularly noteworthy considering only 3.3 percent of black children were homeschooled in spring 2020 versus 16.1 percent in the fall.

While legacy media focused on cases of parents keeping their kids home out of fear of covid, longtime critics of the public school system argued that the pandemic actually helped to expose parents to the lameness of public education.

Axios, the popular DC-based news outlet run by former Politico journalists, recently reported on the growth of the 1776 Project, a new political action committee focused on reforming public school systems at the local level.

The 1776 Project won three-fourths of its fifty-eight races across seven states.

By refusing to accept what federal or state authorities peddled throughout 2020, parents accepted more responsibility, clearly demonstrating that when things get personal, people will do what it takes to take back control.

In his essay “Education: Free and Compulsory,” Murray Rothbard argued that public school and compulsory schooling laws tend to victimize the child: “The effect of the State’s compulsory schooling laws is not only to repress the growth of specialized partly individualized private schools for the needs of various types of children. It also prevents the education of the child by the people who, in many respects, are best qualified—his parents.”

Choice, autonomy, and a respect for individual decision-making are contributing to the growth of the microschool movement, along with other schooling alternatives like homeschooling.

With hysteria rising over the Omicron variant, parents may seek education options for their children beyond their district school. For teachers, there’s never been a better time to create one of these options.

Filed Under: Bottom, News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Subscribe to the Mirror

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 391 other subscribers

Join the Conversation!

Send letters, opinion, goings on or photos to capecharlesmirror@gmail.com

Mirrors

Recent Comments

  • Scrapple Buffet on Cape Charles Planning Commission to Review Proposed Sign Ordinance
  • Jay on Master plan public meeting to be held for Machicomoco State Park
  • Paul Plante on Paul Plante: Where I have been and Why
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: Should J6 be a Federal Holiday?
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: Should J6 be a Federal Holiday?
  • Paul Plante on Asses&Villains: Should J6 be a Federal Holiday?
  • Paul Plante on Paul Plante: Where I have been and Why
  • Paul Plante, VN 1969 on Kiggans Votes to Restrict Funding from Iranian Regime
  • Paul Plante, VN 1969 on Kiggans Votes to Restrict Funding from Iranian Regime
  • JohnR on Application Received to Move House, Potentially Pave Way for Drive-Thru Bank in Historic District
  • Paul Plante on Paul Plante: Where I have been and Why
  • BRAND on Application Received to Move House, Potentially Pave Way for Drive-Thru Bank in Historic District
  • Paul Plante on CDC: Anxiety and Depression in Children
  • Stuart Bell on The Mirror’s List of Great Literary Works
  • Stuart Bell on CDC: Anxiety and Depression in Children
  • Stuart Bell on Idiot Libs Double-Down on the Stupid
  • Michael Perry on Kiggans Votes to Restrict Funding from Iranian Regime
  • Jay on Master plan public meeting to be held for Machicomoco State Park
  • Barbara Suzanne Coughlin on CDC: Anxiety and Depression in Children
  • Vese on Idiot Libs Double-Down on the Stupid

Trending Now

  • Wachapreague Moves to Control Short-term rentals
  • Surfer Rules Summer 2023
  • Government Asserts the Defendants Lied and Cheated the IRS out of over $1.3 Billion: The Government’s Opening Statement of the United States v. Fisher
  • Aloha, Shalom and Namaste...until we meet, again
  • K-COAST Day on the Bay Aug 12th
  • Rosenwald School Awarded $1 Million State Grant
  • History Notes Special: The Boy on the Bike
  • NHPS Presents: The Untold Story: The Cape Charles Elementary School
  • Teachers: Broke and Burned Out
  • Cape Charles 4th of July 2023

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in