Survey of public school concerns finds big gains for charters | Education

Another 28 per cent of parents who are now considering changing their child’s school are more likely to cite dissatisfaction with the quality of education at their child’s school.

The survey, conducted annually by Policy Analysis for California (PACE) and the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California, assesses current threats to public education. His school change survey was an attempt to understand what contributed to the sharp drop in enrollment during the pandemic, which included a record 2.6% drop in 2020-21 and a 1.8% drop l ‘last year.

The poll, which was conducted in July, found that traditional public schools saw the biggest drop among the 28% of parents who said they had changed schools. Of these, about half started in a traditional school, but only 41% ended up in one. Homeschooled ranks have also increased from 3% to 7%.

The survey did not specifically ask why respondents switched to charter schools or what type of charter school they switched to. The poll found that support for charter schools increased by 8 points from 2020 to 2022.

Julie Marsh, a professor of educational policy at the USC Rossier School of Education and author of the report, said the reasons given by parents for changing schools provide insight into why families changed: 38% wanted a different educational experience for their children, 31% expressed dissatisfaction with the COVID-19 safety measures at their school and 30% were dissatisfied with the individual support their child was receiving.

“Just assume charter schools had more supportive COVID policies and provided what parents saw as a better education for their children,” Marsh said.

Those most likely to cite dissatisfaction with COVID measures were high-income families (47%) and Los Angeles County parents (39%).

The poll surveyed 2,000 registered California voters in English and Spanish online, including an oversample of 500 parents with children under 18 living at home. The margin of error for the entire survey is estimated at plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

The survey also polled California voters on other “serious threats” to public education, including the politicization of education, curriculum controversy, student welfare, teacher shortages and university affordability. For the fourth consecutive year, the top education issue was reducing gun violence in schools.

Parents most likely to report changing schools reported income over $150,000 (38%), were white (30%), Democratic (30%) and spoke English as their primary language (27%) . They were more likely to live in Los Angeles (33%) or Sacramento/North Counties (31%) than in San Diego (19%) or Central Valley (22%).

The least likely to report changing schools were Asian Americans (12%) and those who speak English as a second language (15%).

Many families moved during the pandemic: 28% said they changed schools for this reason.

The survey report also notes that many California families who moved during the pandemic were not captured by the survey since they no longer live in California.

Marsh said that even though the report addresses serious issues, California voters surveyed still give high marks to public education.

“The ratings they give to schools are quite high. It’s not all dark and catastrophic,” Marsh said. “There are a lot of positives here.”

Over 68% of respondents said public education is under attack in the country, but 85% agreed that the country “cannot have an effective democracy without good public education”. Most voters expressed support for locally elected school boards. The poll found strong voter support (64%) for spending more time teaching grade-appropriate lessons about the causes and consequences of racism and inequality. A similar number of respondents support California’s recent ethnic studies requirement, which requires students to take an ethnic studies course to graduate from high school. A majority of parents agreed that parents should be able to refuse books assigned by teachers if they believe the content is inappropriate.

Voters ranked college affordability as the second most important educational issue, with 57% of parents expressing concern. Black parents were the most likely to be worried (75%), compared to Latinx parents (63%), Asian American parents (52%) and white parents (51%). However, 92% still see college as a good investment in their child’s future.

California voters strongly support “school hardening” measures such as installing metal detectors (77%), hiring armed security (70%) and limiting entry (69%). They also strongly support gun policies that don’t involve schools, such as expanding public support for mental health.

Voters expressed concern about the funding and stability of the school system. Despite recent federal and state investments, 40% of voters and 50% of parents say improving school funding is a top concern. Parents are also increasingly concerned about the shortage of teachers, which has worsened during the pandemic. This year, 43% of voters ranked teacher shortages as their top education concern. Voters earning less than $35,000 were more likely to report it as a top priority (54%).

After a lengthy debate at its final school board meeting on Monday, the Bakersfield City School District rejected a petition for a Central Academy of Arts and Technology charter school with a 3-1 vote after lengthy discussion, citing a staff recommendation and report. which cited many concerns about the application of the charter.

The motion to dismiss the petition was moved by Laura Guerrero Salgado and seconded by Lillian Tafoya and Pam Baugher, with Sharon Zimmerman voting against the staff recommendation to dismiss the petition and Chris Cruz Boone abstaining.

Joanna Kendrick, one of the founders of CAATs, noted before district staff released their recommendation ahead of Monday’s meeting that CAATs were prepared to appeal the decision if denied.

Perry Smith contributed to this report.