Home schooling tends to be a hot-button issue in political discourse. But that’s particularly true at the moment, being that home schooling has risen amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a November 2020 survey of parents by the Edweek Research Center, “9% of parents who weren’t home-schooling their children last school year said they planned to home-school their children at least some of the time this school year.” Last week, the left-wing writer Jill Filipovic added to the debate. She tweeted and wrote about home schooling, voicing particular disdain toward its organized conservative supporters. Filipovic takes particular issue with conservative groups that push back against state mandates that require basic proof that parents are actually teaching. Her concern is that, left unchecked by government, home schooling opens up the possibility of abuse and neglect.