About School Optional

I pulled my kids out of public school. Not because I was angry. Because I did the research.

I was the parent who trusted the system. I dropped my kids off every morning, picked them up every afternoon, and assumed the people in charge knew what they were doing. I thought my job was to supplement, not replace. To volunteer at the book fair, check the homework folder, and hope for the best.

Then I started looking at the data.

What I Found

Two out of three children in America cannot read at grade level. That is not a headline from a bad year. That is the national average, confirmed by federal testing, year after year. The system is not struggling. It is performing exactly as it was designed to perform.

One in ten students will experience inappropriate misconduct from an educator before they graduate. Sixty-two percent of children's daily calories come from ultra-processed food. The school system was modeled after a Prussian military framework from 1717 designed to produce obedient workers, not independent thinkers.

I did not go looking for reasons to leave. The reasons found me. And once I saw them, I could not unsee them.

Why I Started This

School Optional exists because I wish someone had shown me the data sooner. Not the opinions. Not the ideology. The actual numbers. The federal reports. The peer-reviewed studies. The statistics that the system produces about itself and then ignores.

Every article on this site is backed by real data. I cite the sources. I link the studies. I am not here to scare you into leaving. I am here to make sure you have the information you need to make an informed decision about where your child spends 16,000 hours of their life.

If you look at the data and decide public school is right for your family, that is your choice. I respect it. But you deserve to make that choice with open eyes.

What This Is Not

This is not a political project. I do not care about your party, your vote, or your ideology. I care about your child.

This is not anti-teacher. Most teachers are good people doing impossible work inside a broken system. They know it is broken. Only 26% of them think it is headed in the right direction. That statistic came from teachers.

This is not a religious homeschool platform. The research speaks for itself regardless of faith, background, or motivation.

What This Is

This is a place for parents who are starting to ask questions. Parents who feel something is wrong but cannot quite name it. Parents who need the data before they can trust themselves to make the leap.

I am that parent. I was terrified before I started. I thought I needed a teaching degree. I thought my kids would fall behind. I thought I would ruin them.

Instead, they are thriving. And so are millions of other homeschool families who made the same choice.

Follow Along

I share the research on TikTok at @school.optional. Short videos with real data. No fluff, no fear, no selling. Just the numbers and what they mean for your family.

If you are ready to take the first step, start with the articles. Read the data. Then decide for yourself.

You already know something is wrong. I am just here to show you the numbers that prove it.