A new national survey of parents and guardians of school-aged children showed that more Idaho parents feel they have a choice on where their child attends school than the national average.
D.C.-based advocacy group, 50CAN, along with EDGE research, polled just over 20,000 parents and guardians nationwide on a range of topics including school quality and opportunity, tutoring, mental health, extracurricular activities, and college and career readiness.
In Idaho, Bluum, a non-profit foundation that advocates for and supports charter schools, partnered with 50CAN to push out the survey from early July to late August. The results were turned into the State of Educational Opportunity in Idaho survey released Wednesday.
Parents in Idaho on average are less satisfied with their child’s school at 39% compared to a national average of 45%. However, Idaho parents do feel they have a choice in where their child goes to school, at 70% on average, compared to 65% nationwide.
That number differs based on income level with 62% of low-income Idahoans feeling like they have a choice compared to 76% of mid-high income earners.
Idaho fell below the national average of 34% for confidence in workforce preparation at 27% on average. The survey showed 32% of parents nationwide were extremely confident their child will be well prepared for college, while on average 25% of Idahoans feel the same.
Idaho families also fell below the national average on attending parent meetings and being familiar with how school budget decisions are made.
“This powerful 50-state survey of parents is a must read for everyone who cares about our children, our schools and our future,” said Terry Ryan, Bluum CEO said in a statement. “The findings from Idaho provided makes clear that while we’ve made substantial gains in providing parents with more learning options for their children, we still have much work to do in improving the quality of these choices.”
The full Idaho survey results can be found on Bluum’s website.
Disclosure: Bluum and Idaho Education News are both funded by the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation. The foundation does not take part in EdNews’ editorial decisions or content.
