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Give Americans the educational change they want

When we launched the Roundup back in the spring of 2020, it felt like everywhere we looked Americans were concerned about what the Covid-19 disruptions would mean for the quality of education children were receiving. Back then, 63% of Americans told Gallup they were dissatisfied with the quality of public education in the US, which at the time was a record high.

In last week’s update to this long-standing poll, that dissatisfaction rating climbed to 73%. If there is one thing we can say for certain, it is that Americans are ready for change in education.

In fact, across 31 different aspects of American life, public education is now ranked third from the bottom. Americans are more dissatisfied with the quality of public education than they are with the amount of taxes they pay, the affordability of health care or the state of the nation’s economy. It is that bad.

This finding builds on a number of survey findings since the pandemic pointing towards the desire for big changes:

• Polling conducted by the Walton Family Foundation in 2021, found that “more than ever, parents – and especially Black parents – want bold change … fifty-eight percent of parents believe American Rescue Plan funds, including nearly $130 billion for education, should be used to reimagine education.”
• Year over year, the EdChoice Schooling in America survey echoes a similar sentiment, with growing support for school choice, and with ESAs being the most popular policy in 2024.
• 50CAN’s The State of Educational Opportunity in America survey released in September 2024 found that only 39% of parents said they were very satisfied with their child’s traditional public school compared to 70% who said they were very satisfied with their parochial school.
• An October 2024 poll from EdChoice and Morning Consult found that education was the second most important issue for K-12 parents in the November elections and the third most important issue for voters overall.

Taken together, the task ahead for education advocates is clear: deliver the change that tso many Americans want.

Learn from what’s working, state-by-state

No matter what state you’re in, the latest episode of NewMexicoKidsCAN’s New Mexico Rising podcast is for you and speaks to the key question we have heard from so many people concerned about their NAEP results: how do we do better for our kids?

“Like a lot of us in education, I was hitting refresh on my browser waiting for the NAEP results and when they landed, I felt deep sadness. Because they’re not numbers, they’re the lives of children I interact with regularly. I’d like to say I was optimistic from the moment I saw them, but those first hours were incredibly frustrating. New Mexico is at the bottom, again,” Amanda Aragon, executive director of NewMexicoKidsCAN reflected. “And to see other states, places like Louisiana and Mississippi that were once our peers at the bottom of the rankings, getting better and better outcomes while we stay stagnant is a call to action for our community and for our elected leaders.”

We are fortunate to have in our network Louisiana Kids Matter, which under the leadership of Kelli Bottger drove forward many of the policy changes that helped power Louisiana to its nation-leading gains in 4th grade reading on the NAEP.

Amanda got to work hatching a plan, recognizing the need for state leaders to believe that dramatic progress is possible in a rapid timeframe if the political will exists. “There are plenty of political, policy, demographic and situational differences between our states,” Amanda told us, “But there wasn’t a single difference that seemed remotely acceptable to me as an excuse for mediocrity. New Mexico can absolutely do what Louisiana did.”

The podcast episode, in which Kelli and Amanda discuss a range of course-correcting policies, from universal tutoring to building an enduring reading revolution to the role of school choice, is just the first step. The pair are already working on an itinerary that would bring Kelli to the Land of Enchantment to meet with the press, legislators and state and district leaders. “Let me be clear: we still have a lot of work to do in Louisiana to give every child the educational opportunities they need to thrive,” Kelli cautioned. “But I’m thrilled other states are interested in seeing what they can learn and we’re committed to sharing everything.”

Key Resources

Fordham discusses new research on homeschooling trends, finding that homeschooling increased by 39% in the first year of the pandemic.

Brookings proposes a new process for analyzing the rigor and course difficulty of transcripts, finding that grades alone aren’t enough to effectively communicate a student’s preparation.

Nat Malkus, writing for AEI, pressure tests potential theories for falling achievement scores, noting core areas that need to be explored further, including a growing achievement gap.

New America’s new community data dashboard allows users to compare district-level education data with data from other sectors, including housing, health and federal assistance program eligibility.

Students in North Carolina enrolled in early college high-school programs had higher levels of educational attainment with “larger net benefits for first generation and economically disadvantaged students,” according to a new study from EdWorkingPapers.