Whopping Number of Parents Support In-Person Learning ‘Right Now,’ Poll Finds

A large percentage of parents are tossing their support behind getting their children back into the classrooms amid the coronavirus pandemic.

As the country hits the one-year mark of COVID-19 lockdown, in the U.S., one in three K-12 students does not have the choice for in-person schooling, according to Gallup.

Many parents worry about “damage to their children’s academic progress, psychological health and social development” with no in-person learning, Gallup reports.

Gallup found that 79% of parents of K-12 students in the U.S. support providing in-person learning “right now.” Among those polled, 82% of working parents favored in-person schooling while 71% of non-working parents also supported getting their child back in the classroom.

Ninety-four percent of those who responded to the question identify as a Republican and 80% polled identify as a Democrat. The poll, published Thursday, was conducted from Feb. 14-21.

Additionally, 13% of the parents polled said they had to reduce their hours of work to help their child with at-home learning. Seven percent say they had to quit their job to help their child with the schooling while at home.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said in early February, “Schools should be the last places closed and the first places opened.”