Regardless of party affiliation, Americans want to reopen schools

Most Americans want schools to reopen, including majorities of all political persuasions and regions of the country.

More than 94 percent of Republican respondents to a Gallup poll said they support providing in-person schooling to K-12 students. They were joined by 80 percent of independents and even 62 percent of Democrats.

Working parents were particularly supportive of reopening schools for in-person instruction. Among that group, 82 percent want schools to reopen, versus 71 percent of those who are not working. Among those working, 13 percent said they opted for reduced work hours to help their children learn online. Seven percent said they either quit or took leave from a job to assist their kids.

Surprisingly 90 percent, or nine out of 10 respondents living in the liberal Northeast, want schools to welcome students back. In the midwest, it’s 83 percent of residents, 78 percent of people living in the South and 72 percent of those in the West.

More schools have been reopening in recent weeks. Nearly half of American K-12 students were in traditional five-days-a-week, in-person instruction as of March 14. Another 30 percent were attending hybrid schools, where students attend in-person but not every day of the week.

Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that he is convening a National Reopening Summit in late March. Officials will hear about the “best practices from across the country on how to do this safely and how to do it quickly because we know there are great examples out there,” he said.

“We know students learn best from students, teachers learn best from teachers and states will learn best from states on how to safely reopen schools quickly,” he said. “As a parent and as an educator, I know the value of in-person learning. And for those of you that are parents here, you know there’s no substitute for in-person learning. So I’m excited to get to work making sure we can safely reopen our schools as quickly as possible.”

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice