The January 2 Chicago Tribune features an article titled African-Americans Choosing to Home-School:
Home-schooling experts say more African-American families are choosing to school their children at home, opting out of public schools, which critics say may be not only failing their children, but also in some cases shortchanging them of their history.
“That is the No. 1 reason … the black curriculum,” said Joyce Burgess, who with her husband founded the National Black Home Educators organization, based near Baton Rouge, La. “They’ve taken black history out. It wasn’t just Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth … and Harriet Tubman. It was also Condoleezza Rice, Shirley Chisholm; it was also Marian Anderson and the Tuskegee Airmen. They’re heroes, and our children need to learn about our heroes.”
Although numbers reflecting the trends and demographics of home-schooled children are hard to come by — for example, in Chicago, parents who choose to home-school are not required to inform the school district — experts and leaders in the field say there is no doubt that minority participation is growing.