Parents blame the education system for pandemic learning losses -- and they should

Satisfaction in government schools has been declining for years, even before the stress test of pandemic response resulted in spectacular failure by the public system. Now we have evidence that students lost ground during school closures and fumbled efforts to teach kids who weren’t physically present in the classroom. Democrats and Republicans who otherwise disagree on so much regarding education share dismay over the state of public schools and a mutual interest in alternatives that offer something better. …

“Did the last few years mark a great pivot point, signaling the emergence of two distinct, and distinctly partisan, views of how best to serve students?” asks Education Next. It’s a question its own data, along with that of YouGovAmerica and Gallup, answer largely in the affirmative (though there are certainly more than two views of what education should offer to be found in the population).

The one encouraging sign is that Education Next found some support for school choice: vouchers (50 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of Republicans), tuition tax credits (64 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of Republicans), charter schools (38 percent of Democrats and 55 percent of Republicans), and homeschooling (43 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Republicans). That’s not an overwhelming endorsement, but it is an opportunity, especially in areas where support is concentrated, for families to exit the system and try something different. Hopefully that opening will grow along with shared dismay at student learning losses.