Survey: Parents concerned children will be behind due to school closures, poor internet access

Nearly 90 percent California parents surveyed are worried about their children falling behind academically due to school closures to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, according to a new poll released by student equity advocates.

The survey, which took place between March 26 and April 1, included responses from more than 1,200 parents from across the state.

The results released by Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based organization working for educational justice, found that most families were experiencing higher levels of stress because schools were closed. Fewer than half of California’s parents were contacted by their child’s teacher, and 20 percent of California parents said they had received little to no information from their schools after they closed.

About 30 percent of parents are worried they won’t be able to do distance learning because they have unreliable internet, and 41 percent of parents said they didn’t have enough devices at home to implement distance learning.

“Communicating effectively with parents when schools close is no easy task, and teachers, principals, and district administrators deserve a lot of credit,” said Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of The Education Trust-West.

“But this is a time to accelerate our work. The poll results show that parents want consistent contact with their children’s teachers and are still lacking equitable access to academic resources. Right now, we must step up planning to ensure teachers and school leaders have the resources they need to stop learning gaps in their tracks when schools reopen.”

The findings highlighted the inequities among low-income families and students of color. The Education Trust-West provided district-by-district data revealing which students lacked access to technology and internet.

The data showed that nearly 40 percent of low-income families and 30 percent of families of color in California were concerned about access to education these following months because they do not have reliable internet. Half of low income families do not have the technology at home to implement distance learning.

In the capital region, data from The Education Trust suggested more than a third of low-income families in Twin Rivers Unified, Center Joint Unified, Robla Elementary and Sacramento City Unified school districts said they did not have internet in their homes.

Many school districts in the Sacramento area are providing Google Chromebooks and hotspots to families who need them. While distance learning is beginning April 13 in some districts, not all students have received laptops as devices still trickle in for distribution.

A quarter of non-English home speakers surveyed said they have not received materials in other languages. School districts in California are required to translate messages if schools have 15 percent or more of their students speaking a primary language other than English.

Some local school districts, like San Juan Unified School District, are home to families who speak many different languages. Though not all languages exceed the 15 percent threshold, San Juan Unified provides information in five languages: Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Russian and Ukranian.

Leaders at The Education Trust called on policymakers to shift from crisis management to long-term solutions, as uncertainty looms over how long the state will need to educate its 6 million K-12 students.

Nearly half of those surveyed said their districts only provided materials to get them through two weeks of instruction. That will change as districts begin launching distance learning programs in the coming weeks.

California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond said it’s unclear what districts across the state will decide to implement, if anything, during the summer months to supplement student learning.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 3:50 PM with the headline "Survey: Parents concerned children will be behind due to school closures, poor internet access."