Support for full-time, in-person school drops among parents: survey

Support for full-time, in-person school has dropped among parents after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended fully vaccinated individuals wear masks, a survey from the CDC and National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) showed.

The survey found support for in-person classes is at 43 percent while support for hybrid learning is close to 40 percent, the survey says, according to NBC News.

Before the CDC’s guidance, support for in-person learning was around 58 percent while support for hybrid learning was around 27 percent.

Black and Hispanic parents were more likely than white parents to support hybrid learning than in-person classes, according to the survey.

Support for fully remote learning is still low, but slightly higher after the CDC guidance, with around 18 percent of parents wanting remote learning. Before the guidance, around 14 percent supported remote learning.

The drop in support for in-person classes comes as the delta variant has caused a rise in cases around the country with thousands of students having to quarantine after the first week of school. 

There has also been a battle among schools about whether to implement mask mandates, with Democratic governors either forcing the mandates on schools or Republican governors banning schools from allowing mask mandates.

A recent Gallup poll found more K-12 parents are supporting mask mandates in schools than oppose them, but fails to reach the majority level.

There are 48 percent of parents who want mask mandates in schools with 41 percent saying students shouldn’t have to wear masks.

The CDC and PTA poll was conducted among 1,448 public school parents between July 23 and Aug. 8.