Study Finds Majority of Parents Want In-Person Learning

Whether or not to reopen schools for in-person learning has been the source of heated debate here lately.

Late last month, the WFISD announced it would give parents the choice between in-person or remote learning for the upcoming school year. I’m not sure what the actual percentages are here in Wichita Falls, but the majority of parents I’ve spoken to have said their children would be returning to school in the fall.

The fact of the matter is that there are valid concerns on both sides of the argument. So, the financial website WalletHub conducted a national survey asking parents whether or not they thought children should return to school for in-person learning this fall.

The survey found that 55% of parents in the U.S. were in favor of students returning to the classroom.

Out of those surveyed, 32% said they weren’t able to work remotely and needed schools to be open in order to return to work.

The study also found that almost 1 in 4 parents felt that teachers who work remotely should either take a pay cut, work longer hours or surrender vacation days.

Additionally, fathers are more in favor of schools reopening, with 31% more fathers than mothers saying they wanted schools to reopen.

Of course, politics also played a role in where people stood on the issue. Less than half of liberal parents surveyed wanted schools to reopen, while two-thirds of conservative parents were in favor of in-person learning.

Get highlights from the survey as well as expert commentary and a description of WalletHub’s methodology here.