During 2003,s first enrollment check, there were only about 8,548 students being homeschooled in Mississippi, and numbers rose steadily until May, when there were 11,063 students, compared with Tennessee,s 30,000, said Peggy Peterson, director of homeschooling for the Mississippi Department of Education.Peterson
said such an increase is typical, and the numbers usually drop back down to around 8,000 in September and gradually rise as the school year wears on.
According to Peterson, Mississippi
,s homeschooling rules are more lenient than those of other states.
It is fairly simple to start homeschooling in Mississippi, Peterson
Once a student has properly withdrawn from the public school or other school they were in before, they are to contact a school attendance officer and complete an enrollment form.
There are no requirements for parents, and there is a state law that says homeschooling cannot be monitored, Peterson
There is no way to know if homeschooled children are getting a quality education, because there are no required tests to ensure that the pupil is staying at his
appropriate grade level, Peterson