Editorial Staff

Poll Finds Mixed Views About Schools’ Pandemic Performance

/in , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

Read media coverage of this report in The Boston Herald, NBC 10, WCVB, Boston 25, CommonWealth magazine, State House News Service, WHDH, Yahoo News and EducationNext. 

Massachusetts residents more satisfied with performance of individual teachers than with school districts, teachers’ unions

BOSTON – A year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts residents have mixed opinions about how K-12 education has functioned, but they tend to view the performance of individual teachers more favorably than that of institutions like school districts and teachers’ unions, according to a poll of 1,500 residents commissioned by Pioneer Institute.

“Massachusetts residents have not been satisfied with the remote learning Massachusetts schools are providing during the pandemic,” said Pioneer Institute Executive Director Jim Stergios.  “And they place a fair amount of the blame on the shoulders of both school districts and teachers’ unions.”

Overall grades

A plurality of respondents (29 percent) gave schools a grade of “C” for their pandemic performance.  “B” was the second most common grade, at 26 percent.  Overall, 65 percent gave schools an “A”, “B” or “C.”  Seventy percent of parents/guardians rated schools an A, B, or C.

Grades were lower among parents with three or more children.  Twenty-two percent gave the schools an “F,” compared to 13 percent of parents with one child and 11 percent of those with two.

Influence of teachers’ unions

When asked to rate teachers’ union involvement in decisions to teach remotely on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the most involved, a plurality (31 percent) rated union involvement a 10.  A higher percentage of Bostonians (36 percent) ranked teachers’ union involvement a 10.  Just over half of parents/guardians placed it at 8 or higher.

By a 45 percent to 39 percent margin, state residents believed that teachers’ unions haven’t acted in the best interests of children during the pandemic.  Among parents who don’t work in the schools, 49 percent said the unions have not acted in the best interest of children, compared to 37 percent who believe they have.

Residents were more satisfied with the performance of individual teachers.  About half were very or somewhat satisfied, with only 29 percent somewhat or totally unsatisfied.

Impact on children

Among parents asked how much their children’s education had been compromised during the pandemic as a result of learning remotely, a plurality (21 percent) replied 10 when asked to rate on a 1-10 scale with 10 being the most compromised.   A majority (54 percent) rated the degree to which their children’s education had been compromised at seven or higher.

Sixteen percent of parents said their children’s education was inadequate enough that they would consider having them repeat the grade.  Another 26 percent were unsure.

The more education was remote and asynchronous, the more likely parents were to believe their children should repeat the grade.  Only 9 percent of parents whose children had 16 or more hours per week of synchronous education would consider having them repeat, while the number rose to 23 percent among parents whose children’s education was totally asynchronous.

Forty-three percent of parents believed their children’s socialization has been entirely inadequate during the pandemic.

Parents of children receiving special education services have been generally happy with those services during the pandemic.  Thirty-eight percent said the services have been somewhat adequate and 26 percent said they have been very adequate.

The poll was conducted by Emerson College Polling between March 19 and 21.  It has a +/- 2.4 percent margin of error for the questions asked of Massachusetts residents, 3.9 percent for parent questions and 6.3 percent for parents of children with special needs.

About Pioneer Institute

Pioneer’s mission is to develop and communicate dynamic ideas that advance prosperity and a vibrant civic life in Massachusetts and beyond.

Pioneer’s vision of success is a state and nation where our people can prosper and our society thrive because we enjoy world-class options in education, healthcare, transportation and economic opportunity, and where our government is limited, accountable and transparent.

Pioneer values an America where our citizenry is well-educated and willing to test our beliefs based on facts and the free exchange of ideas, and committed to liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise.

Get Updates on Our Education Research

Related Content:

Mariam Nusrat Takes Gaming to New Heights

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Mariam Nusrat, immigrant from Pakistan and founder and CEO of both the venture-backed Gaming Revolution for International Development and the not-for-profit Gaming Revolution for Inspiring Development, both with the acronym GRID.

Book Reveals How Tax Hike Amendment Would Damage Commonwealth’s Economic Competitiveness

If adopted, a constitutional amendment to hike state taxes that will appear on the ballot in November could erase the hard-earned progress Massachusetts has achieved toward economic competitiveness over the last 25 years and may not result in any additional education and transportation funding, according to a new book from Pioneer Institute, entitled Back to Taxachusetts?: How the proposed tax amendment would upend one of the nation’s best economies, which is a distillation of two dozen academic studies.

WV State Sen. Patricia Puertas Rucker on Universal School Choice

This week on “The Learning Curve," co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Senator Patricia Puertas Rucker, a West Virginia state Senator and Chair of the Education Committee. Thanks to her leadership, West Virginia now has the widest, most universal education savings account program in America.

Pioneer Institute Statement on the Latest State Audit of the Boston Public Schools

The third review of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) in fewer than 20 years makes clear: Things are getting worse.  Graduation rates are down, achievement gaps are up, an unacceptably large percentage of students attend schools ranked in the lowest 10 percent statewide. In a cruel twist, more than three in five students still are not taught material on which they are tested. There remains no clear strategy for improvement.  

Forsaking Massachusetts’s Miracle: Risking Our Future With Past Mistakes

This week on Hubwonk, host Joe Selvaggi talks with Greg Sullivan, Research Director at Pioneer Institute and author of Back to Taxachusetts?, about the link between Massachusetts’s decision to reduce tax rates and a generation-long economic renaissance - and the reasons why new taxes such as the proposed, so-called "Fair Share Amendment" risk taking us back to economic stagnation or decline.  

Massachusetts Tax Revenues Surpass Pre-Pandemic Levels

0 Comments
/
Pandemic recovery and then some! Massachusetts revenues are higher than anyone was expecting, but where is all the money coming from? And what does this mean for the Massachusetts economy?

Yuliya Tarasava Invests In Americans Who Need It Most

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Yuliya Tarasava, immigrant from Belarus and cofounder and chief operating officer at CNote, a platform that helps facilitate investment in financially underserved communities across America.

Study Documents The Design Challenges, Contracting Issues, And Delays Facing New MBTA Fare Collection System

This new study unearths previously unseen communications between the MBTA and its contractors, showing that the MBTA’s efforts to modernize its fare collection system, including allowing payments with credit cards and bringing “tap and go” technology to Commuter Rail and ferry lines, was riddled with technological challenges and difficulties overseeing contractors as early as 2019, culminating in a 3-year delay to the project’s full implementation.

Columbia’s Prof. Nicholas Lemann on the Great Migration, the SAT, & Meritocracy

This week on “The Learning Curve," guest co-host Kerry McDonald talks with Nicholas Lemann, Joseph Pulitzer II and Edith Pulitzer Moore Professor of Journalism and Dean Emeritus of the Columbia School of Journalism, and author of the books, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America, and The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy.

Doctors With Borders: Curing Shortages With International Lifeline

This week on Hubwonk, host Joe Selvaggi talks with Cicero Institute’s Jonathan Wolfson about the growing doctor shortage and the potential to alleviate the crisis by tapping the global supply of well-trained physicians eager to find safety and freedom in the US.