Black Families Seek School Choice Pathways of Homeschooling and Microschools

DECATUR, Ga. - Dec. 26, 2024 - PRLog -- PDF of Press Release at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Oq69I5rSKUj2CExzo0dRILnctZB-lihQFIH1qOlL7hM/edit?usp=sharing

The Georgia Black Home Educators Network (GBHEN) (https://georgiablackhomeeducators.org/) is thrilled to announce the "Flourish Family Homeschool Conference," a two-day school choice event on January 30-31, 2025, at New Life Church and Community Center in Decatur, GA. This parent-first education conference is designed to equip families with the tools and resources they need to succeed in home education. The conference will feature three diverse audience tracks (Parent-as-Educator, Educational Entrepreneurs, and Teen Programming). We prioritize fixed-budget, Black, Brown, neurodiverse, single-parent, grandparents as guardians, and rural families, providing them with a critical on-ramp to homeschooling.

Why It Matters

The Georgia Department of Education reported a rise in homeschoolers from 59,000 in 2015 to 91,000 by 2022. Nationally, Black families represent the fastest-growing homeschool population, with more than 3.7 million homeschooled students across the U.S. According to the 2020 Census, Black families now make up 16.1% of the homeschooling population. (https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/us/black-families-home-sch...)

Recent Georgia legislation like Senate Bill 233 (https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/64762): Georgia Promise Scholarship Program (https://mygeorgiapromise.org/), an education savings account (ESA), has further empowered families by providing eligible households with a $6,500 voucher for tuition, homeschool expenses, tutoring services, physician/ therapy services, curriculum, and more. Additionally, ESAs have spurred educational innovation by fostering models like micro-schools (https://www.parents.com/microschooling-for-black-children-8678208)—a hybrid approach combining the advantages of homeschooling and traditional schools with small class sizes and personalized instruction. Micro-schools, similar to the Rosenwald School Project (https://www.abhmuseum.org/the-rosenwald-schools-an-impressive-legacy-of-black-jewish-collaboration-for-negro-education/), uniquely benefit Black children by offering individualized curricula (https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/parenting/what-are-micro-schools-and-how-do-they-help-black-kids-learn/ar-BB1qadJm) that cater to diverse learning styles, creating culturally responsive environments that celebrate Black heritage, and promoting holistic development through strong community connections and authentic mentorship.

Exclusive Features You'll Want to Cover:

• Technology Equity: 150-200 FREE laptops are distributed in partnership with Compudopt (http://compudopt.org), a nonprofit championing digital equity.
• School Choice & Neurodiversre Student: Workshops train parents to resource needs of an IEP.
• Fresh Educational Topics: Black Homeschooling Fathers and College Preparatory Homeschooling Through High School even to the IVY Leagu (https://nipa-ga.com/)e
• Social Justice Education and School Choice:  A complete home education for Black families includes "Cultural Restoration: Integrating Heritage and Healing in Homeschooling", a panel discussion with Amber O'Neal Johnston (The Heritage Mom (https://heritagemom.com/about/)), Anita Gibson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/anita-gibson-edu-2b68a764/) (National Homeschool Advocacy (https://www.nhaonline.org/)), and Dr. Cheryl Fields-Smith (https://people.coe.uga.edu/files/August-2023-Vita.pdf) (UGA professor and homeschool researcher).

Quote: Nicole P. Doyle, co-founder of GBHEN, states, "The disparities in education are too great for families to ignore. We are very excited to empower, equip, encourage, and energize parents as they discover the beauty of home education. A family-centric educational approach will lower illiteracy rates, reduce cycles of poverty, decrease crime, and improve mental health."