African American Homeschooling, Increasing the Odds

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

24 Apr 2009 10:19 AM

According to the Manhattan Institute,

The national graduation rate for the public school class of 2000 was 69%. The rate for white students was 76%; for Asian students it was 79%; for African-American students it was 55%; for Hispanic students it was 53%; and for Native Americans it was 57%.

In addition,

Florida had the lowest graduation rate among white public school students with 60%, followed by Tennessee, Georgia, and Alaska.

As a parent of black children living in Georgia, you could say that the odds really are against my kids.

Now this is not to say that I don't know a great many African American students who have graduated with honors and scholarships. However, I also know a great many African American students who did not finish high school, who did not get high school, and who ended up doing nothing with their lives.

In the 6 years since I began homeschooling, I am not surprised by the explosive increase in African Americans homeschooling, especially in my area. After sitting back and watching failure after failure, what good parent wouldn't decide to try something different at the first sign that public education is not working?

By educating my kids myself, I am constantly finding new ways to find ways around roadblocks, finding new explanations when they don't understand standard ones, and pushing them to do their best on a daily basis.

I have been told on many occasion that my kids might be better off if I got a real job (instead of freelance writing) and used the money to educate my kids in private school. However, I don't feel that my kids odds would be increased any more than homeschooling has increased them. In fact, private schools in my area are not only cost prohibitive (thousands a month) meaning it would be hard to make enough to pay for them, but my kids would not get the individual attention that they need.

*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.

* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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