WEST PARK, Fla. — A growing number of students in Florida are getting homeschooled.
Ian R’Mante and his sister, Ara, are among the tens of thousands of students learning in smaller groups, often with parents as teachers and volunteers.
“It’s definitely better than my other schools,” Ara said.
The R’Mantes attend the South Florida Homeschool Resource Center founded by Eva Goldstein Meola, an educator who homeschooled her own daughter more than two decades ago.
“I knew public school wasn’t the right fit for my daughter,” she said.
Back then, Goldstein Meola said it was a small community of parents in the homeschooling community.
Things have changed.
“I saw a big change from people homeschooling for religious reasons or personal reasons, to people homeschooling because their child was gifted or their child was on the spectrum,” she said. “And they knew that they could do it better.”
Statistics from the Florida Department of Education show more than 155,000 students were homeschooled in the 2023-24 school year. In the last five years, that number has increased by 46 percent.
Public school enrollment is declining in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres said the district does offer services to home schoolers.
“Homeschooling is a reality,” Dotres said. “If their children want to come to our school, let’s say for a particular class, they can come and use their voucher so they can come and participate with us.”
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