Fewer parents want full-time, in-person instruction for their children: Gallup

The percentage of parents who say they want full-time, in-person school for their children in the fall has fallen 20 points in recent months, although more still favor it than fully remote classes, according to Gallup.

Thirty-six percent of K-12 parents say they favor resuming in-person, full-time classes in the fall, down from 56 percent in May and early June. Twenty-eight percent are currently in favor of full-time remote classes, up 21 percentage points from earlier in the year. Another 36 percent now favor a combination of the two options.

The results earlier in the year were closely correlated with parents’ experience with distance learning, Gallup noted. In that survey, 56 percent of parents, the same percentage that favored full-time, in-person classes, said they found their children’s remote instruction difficult.

Since then, parents’ concerns about the possibility of their children getting the novel coronavirus have grown, according to Gallup. Sixty-four percent now say they are concerned, compared to 46 percent earlier in the year. This includes 27 percent describing themselves as “very worried,” a 15-percent increase.

While a majority of concerned parents were in favor of hybrid schooling in the fall in the last survey, concerned parents favoring full-time remote learning and those favoring a combination have now moved into a statistical tie, 42 to 44 percent. Concerned parents who favor full-time instruction fell 14 points, from 29 percent to 15 percent.

Eighty-five percent of parents identifying as Democrats say they are concerned about their children getting the virus, compared to 29 percent of Republicans. About 2 in 3 Republican parents want a full return to in-person classes for their children, compared to 13 percent of Democrats.

President Trump and the White House have mounted an aggressive push for full in-person learning in the fall, pointing to the virus’ low infection and mortality rates among children. Critics of the plan have cited the adults those children will come in contact with at school and at home.

Gallup surveyed a random sample of 1,028 parents of U.S. K-12 students July 13-27. The results have a 6-point margin of error for individual samples.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/510222-fewer-parents-want-full-time-in-person-instruction-for-their-children