Survey says nearly half of all parents think taxpayers don’t get value from public schools

A new survey released by the consumer credit company Wallet Hub found that almost half of all parents believe that public schools don’t provide a good value for the money.

Even more – 83% – agree that the cost of education is out of control, according to the survey.

The survey also found that nearly 75% of parents think that all school districts should get the same amount of funding.

The results of the survey are consistent with other polls that found that the rising cost of school supplies is a concern for parents this year.

A survey by WorldRemit last month showed a basket of back-to-school supplies rising 28% year-over-year.

CPI topped out at 9.1% year-over-year in 2022 and has since dropped to 3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Wallet Hub survey found that nearly 50% of parents say they will spend more on school supplies this year over last year.

The survey comes amid a rising rebellion from parents about the results produced by public schools.

It’s a movement that has boiled over since the pandemic-enforced shutdowns helped rip the veil off of progressive-controlled schools dominated by teachers’ unions, observers say.

“An analysis of data from about 80% of public schools in the country has found that, in districts that went remote for 90% or more of 2020-21, the decline in math scores represented the loss of two-thirds of a year, nearly double the drop in districts that were remote for less than 10% of the year,” said left-leaning Pro Publica. 

In reading, 4th and 8th graders likewise are performing on par with students in the 1990s, and about a third of students in both grades can’t read at even the “basic” achievement level—the lowest level on the test, said Ed Week.  

Civics test scores dropped to all-time lows.  

As an antidote to the critics of public schools, the progressive education establishment has responded by accelerating the introduction of controversial racial and sexual materials in the classrooms.  

The result has been a growing body of states that are giving parents more choices and more control over public education spending.  

Over 14 states now have school choice programs that allow parents to spend public money on the schools of their choice, according to EdChoice.org.   

Many of these programs are initially targeted at low-income families or failing school districts. 

Increasingly, however, some states, such as Arkansas, are making the programs universal, as parents express more discontent with the results produced by union-dominated public schools. 

“When a student graduates from high school, we should not just be asking the question, ‘What do they know?’ We should be asking, ‘What can they do?’” said Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of reforms recently introduced in her state, giving parents more control of education spending.