Poll: Over Three-Quarters of Parents Support School Reopening
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The finding comes as many students across the country have not regularly attended in-person classes since early last year.
The vast majority of parents who have K-12 school-age children want to see kids return to in-person schooling, according to recent poll results. The finding comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted education for about a year now.
An online Gallup poll conducted in mid-February found that 79% of overall respondents supported in-person schooling in their communities at that time. The share of people who felt that way was even higher among working parents (82%) and Republicans (94%).
But even among parents who aren’t working and Democrats, majorities—71% and 62% respectively—said they thought it was time for kids to go back to classrooms.
A Gallup analysis of the poll notes estimates indicating one in three K-12 students in the U.S. don't have an in-person schooling option.
Determining when and how to reopen schools has been controversial throughout the pandemic, as officials have tried to balance the needs of students and the challenges parents can face with kids learning at home, against the health risks of Covid-19 spreading in schools.
Unions representing teachers in some large city school systems have opposed reopening, citing health safety concerns.
Many K-12 students haven’t attended school in person on a regular basis in about a year now. Some students have been learning fully online, while others have been attending school through a hybrid model, with some in-person class time and some virtual.
Having students learning from home has put an enormous weight on parents trying to also handle work and other responsibilities.
As more Americans, including teachers and other school staff are vaccinated, an increasing number of state and local officials are looking to return students to classrooms.
The Gallup survey of 860 adults was conducted between Feb. 14 and 21 and included responses from people who are parents of students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The margin of error for the overall results is +/- 5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
More about the results can be found here.
Brent Woodie is an associate editor at Route Fifty.
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