Almost 8 in 10 parents support in-person learning: Gallup

Nearly 80 percent of parents of K-12 students surveyed for a new poll said they are in favor of their children returning to school for in-person learning amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Gallup poll, released Thursday, found that working parents, those in the Northeast region of the U.S. and those who identify as Republicans offered the most significant support for students returning to schools “right now.”

Survey respondents who identify as Democrats had the least support for elementary and secondary students returning to school, with 62 percent backing it.

The new poll also found that 13 percent of survey respondents have had to take reduced work hours “to help children with at-home learning” due to the pandemic and that 7 percent “quit or took leave” from their jobs to help their children.

President Biden earlier this month called on all states to prioritize teachers for COVID-19 vaccinations so that all educators and school staff will have received at least one dose by the end of March. 

“Our goal is to do everything we can to help every educator receive a shot this month, the month of March,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. 

“We can reopen schools if the right steps are taken even before employees are vaccinated, but time and again, we’ve heard from educators and parents that have anxieties about that,” Biden said. “So as yet another move to help accelerate the safe reopening of our schools, let’s treat in-person learning like an essential service that it is.”

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also said earlier this month that ensuring that teachers are vaccinated in an effort to reopen schools is his “top priority.”

“We must continue to reopen America’s schools for in-person learning as quickly and as safely as possible,” Cardona said while touring a Connecticut school with first lady Jill Biden.

The Thursday survey was conducted from Feb. 14-21 among 860 adults in the U.S. It has a margin of sampling error of 5 percentage points.