PPIC's April survey surveyed Californians, including parents of children attending public schools, about the quality of K-12 public education, school funding and resources, and state officials' response to the K-12 system. We are investigating the opinions of adults. During a virtual briefing last week, PPIC Research Analyst Dejah Thomas outlined the findings and discussed key points with Deputy Research Director Dean Bonner.
Opinions often divide along partisan lines. For example, 68% of Democrats think their state's public K-12 education system is headed in the right direction, while 83% of Republicans think it's headed in the wrong direction. . There is partisan agreement in some areas. For example, 82% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans support education about the history of slavery, racism, and racism.
The education survey also revealed what parents of children in public schools think about a variety of issues. This led to some interesting discoveries. For example, public school parents' opinions about whether K-12 public schools are moving in the right direction are similar to those of all adults, but public school parents' opinions about whether their local public schools are moving in the right direction are similar to those of all adults. They are more likely to say that they are doing well or have excellent results. Students are better prepared for college (72%) and the workforce (65%) than California adults overall (60% and 51%, respectively).
This group was also much more likely to say students at their local school have fallen behind academically during the pandemic (72%) than their own children have fallen behind (51%) . “We're asking them if their child has fallen behind academically, and that may not be something everyone wants to admit,” Thomas said.