American Home Schooling at All-Time High The number of home-schooled kids in the U.S. hit 1.5 million in 2007, up 74% from when the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics started keeping track in 1999. The percentage of U.S. students who are home-schooled increased from 2.2% in 2003 to 2.9% in 2007, USA Today reported. Mike Smith, president of the Home School Legal Defense Association, said the declining quality of public education and safety concerns likely contributed to the increase. But he said the strongest growth is among parents who cite moral and religious reasons for home schooling. The numbers tell the story, Smith added. "Home-schoolers are testing, on average, about 20 points above their public school counterparts," he told CitizenLink. "Home-schoolers are more likely to go to college. Home-schoolers are much more likely to get involved in a civic endeavor, much more likely to get involved in a political contest, much more likely to vote." Largest Christian Groups Report Membership Decline After years of continuous growth, membership in the Roman Catholic Church has dropped by 0.59% and the Southern Baptist Convention decreased by 0.24%, according to the 2009 edition of the Yearbook of the American & Canadian Churches. Although the percentage losses are small compared to the total membership of the churches, the yearbook pointed out that the two communions had "grown dependably" over the years and "now they join virtually every mainline church in reporting a membership decline." "Many churches are feeling the impact of the lifestyles of younger generations of church-goers--the 'Gen X'ers' or 'Millenials' in their 20s and 30s who attend and support local congregations but resist joining them," Rev. Dr. Eileen Lindner, editor of the yearbook, states in the report. Decline in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)--the largest Protestant denomination in the country--was first reported in 2008. Baptisms fell for the third straight year in 2007 and total membership dropped for the first time in many years. Other denominations that reported membership losses include:   United Church of Christ (down 6.01%)   African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (down 3.01%)   Presbyterian Church (USA) (down 2.79%)   Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (down 1.44%)   Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (down 1.35%)   American Baptist Churches USA (down 0.94%). Hunger Abounds in the U.S. In 2007, 37.3 million people (12.5%) were in poverty, 36.2 million Americans (23.8 million adults and 12.4 million children) lived in food-insecure households, and 3.9 million of all U.S. households (3.4%) accessed emergency food from a food pantry one or more times.