A recent poll conducted by the Show-Me Institute shows dissatisfaction among Missouri parents with their children’s education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The poll, conducted by Cor Services Inc., shows about 37 percent of Missouri parents believe their children are being left behind academically this year, compared to less than 7 percent last year.
Researchers interviewed 510 parents with school-aged children from Dec. 2-10, according to a news release from the Show-Me Institute.
The St. Louis-based Show-Me Institute describes itself as a think tank “dedicated to promoting free markets and individual liberty.”
Before the pandemic, 93.3 percent of Missouri parents said they felt their child was ahead or on target academically. Now, that number has decreased to 62.8 percent.
Almost half of parents (47 percent) reported they would change their child’s educational environment for the rest of the school year if they could, including 18.5 percent who said they would move their child to a private school and 15 who said they would homeschool.
Before the pandemic, 45 percent said they trusted their public school system to almost always make decisions in the best interest of their child’s education. Now, that number has decreased to 32 percent.
“This poll confirms what we have known for too long — that Missouri needs to do more to support students and families,” said Susan Pendergrass, Show-Me Institute director of research and education policy, in the news release. “This academic year has clearly been particularly challenging. It is time we advance policy solutions that will directly support students and provide much-needed relief for parents.”
Nearly half (48 percent) of parents report spending more than 10 hours per week helping their children with school instruction this school year, and 46 percent report spending more than $250 on school supplies for the 2020-21 school year.
Two bills that would establish education savings accounts to help Missouri families cover their educational expenses have been introduced in the Missouri Senate. The accounts would be funded through tax credits, and the money could be used to pay for approved educational expenses such as tuition, tutoring and school supplies.
On average, Missouri taxpayers spend more than $11,000 per student on K-12 education each year, according to the Show-Me Institute. About 52 percent of parents said they support giving a portion of those funds to use for home, virtual or private education.
Only 21 percent of parents gave their child’s remote learning experience an A rating; 22 percent gave it a B rating; 26 percent gave it a C rating; 12 percent gave it a D rating and 14 percent gave it an F rating. Only 6 percent have not experienced remote learning this school year.
Most Missouri school districts — 455 — have on-site instruction or on-site with a distanced learning option. Only 74 districts are using a mix of on-site and distanced instruction, and 28 are doing only distance learning, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
All Mid-Missouri schools returned to on-site instruction this school year, but some schools and classes have switched to distance learning for periods throughout the school year due to COVID-19 cases or staffing shortages.
Jefferson City School District middle schools have transitioned to distance learning twice this school year, and the high schools have once. JC Schools Chief of Learning Shelby Scarbrough said last month the district received positive feedback from parents on these distance learning periods.
“The feedback that we got from parents is overwhelmingly that it’s been a good experience, especially comparing it to what they had in the spring,” she said.
All Missouri students also have the option to learn virtually through the Missouri Course Access and Virtual School Program instead of on-site instruction.
Many JC Schools students who were enrolled in virtual learning at the beginning of the school year have since switched to on-site instruction.
At the beginning of the school year, 1,385 JC Schools students were enrolled in the Launch virtual learning program. As of Wednesday, the district has 715 students in Launch.
To view the Show-Me Institute’s full poll results, visit spn.org/blog/state-polling- spotlight-missouri.