Educators have been sounding the alarm about shrinking public school enrollment, especially since the pandemic began. Houston's enrollment dropped by more than 22,000 in fall 2021, and only about half of those students have returned to school.
Nearly 600 school officials, including the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent, are making an ongoing effort to connect with ‘lost children’ who have not been attending school regularly since the pandemic. Schooling during the coronavirus pandemic forced parents to take a hard look at how their children were being educated, and many parents report being more concerned about their children's schooling because of it.
Seventy-nine percent of parents said they became more interested in their kids' education because of what they saw when schooling became virtual and home-based during the pandemic.Lower-income parents and parents of color were more likely to agree with those statements. 5,002 parents with kids enrolled in school in the U.S. were surveyed online between May 19 and May 31, 2022.
About 40% of U.S. households have school-age children at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Here's a look at their top concerns, according to the new poll: The vast majority of parents said education is a top priority for them as voters. Eighty-two percent said they would be willing to vote outside their self-identified political party based on educational platforms. That was true for 88% independents, 81% of Democrats, and 79% of Republicans, the study found.
Parents' interest in education as a political issue has grown; 83% of participants said education is more important to them politically now than it was in the past. For parents voting in local and state elections, the issue was second only to taxes, according to the study.