Education

Home Schooling Choices Linked to Family Finances

By Michelle R. Davis — January 05, 2007 1 min read
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“The Choice of Public, Private, or Home Schooling” is available from the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.

A family is more likely to choose home schooling rather than private schools to avoid low-quality public schools if the mother has more free time and the family is not wealthy, according to a paper by the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, based in New York City.

An estimated 2 percent of school-age children are home-schooled, and 11 percent are sent to private schools, according to the paper. While previous research has suggested that family values and local school quality influence student enrollment, the paper found that family finances and the amount of free time a mother has also play key roles in home-schooling choices, according to the paper. It was written by Eric J. Isenberg, an assistant professor of economics and management at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.

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