We’re proud to have partnered with Raise Your Hand Texas Foundation to produce its second annual poll of public attitudes toward public education in the state. The newly released statewide survey finds that Texans’ views of the state’s public schools have improved amid the coronavirus pandemic: Fifty-six percent give their community’s public schools an A or B grade, up 8 points from late 2019.

The survey takes an in-depth look at attitudes toward public education in the state, with a focus on pandemic impacts. Among the results:

• Nearly eight in 10 public school parents rate their child’s school’s learning model – online, in-person or hybrid – as very or somewhat effective. Still, it’s lower, seven in 10, among parents whose child’s learning is fully remote, vs. 87 percent among those with an in-person or hybrid approach. And those with students learning entirely remotely are far less likely to call the approach very effective, 19 vs. 50 percent.
• Asked about problems facing their children during the pandemic, more than seven in 10 parents mention missing social interactions at school or with friends; 64 percent say the same of missing personal connections with teachers and 55 percent cite missing sports, music, arts and after-school activities. Two in 10 mention lack of access to food and school support services.
• Among Texans overall, majorities say it’s extremely or very important for schools to provide a safe, sanitized environment for in-person learning, to provide support for remote learning, to address learning loss caused by the move to remote learning, to provide support for students’ and teachers’ emotional health and well-being and to address student nutrition support. Most also say public schools need more funding for each of nine COVID-related challenges tested in the survey.
• Forty-four percent, including 51 percent of public school parents, said they have a greater appreciation for their community’s schools now than before the pandemic.

Additional results cover views on equity issues, school funding, ratings of teachers, and attitudes toward testing, vouchers and charter schools. See the full report here, and additional coverage by The Dallas Morning News (here and here) and the San Antonio Report.