Families give the Los Angeles school district good marks for its efforts to help them, but many report they are struggling — both in trying to keep their children on pace academically and in other ways, according to a survey that the district released Monday.
Details about the survey’s methodology were limited Monday morning, but the survey was conducted among families at Eastside schools. More than 7,000 families completed all or part of the survey.
On the plus side, more than 90% said they have been able to use technology to communicate effectively with teachers. And nearly 90% said they have received instructional materials for reading and math, with a significant drop-off in other subject areas.
More than half said they’ve received “a lot” of information from their school and the school district “about academic resources or other resources and/or support that are available.”
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And nearly 75% rated “the job your child’s school or school district is doing making learning materials and instruction available” as good or excellent.
But these efforts have been achieving only mixed results since campuses closed March 13 due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to the survey.
Fewer than half of respondents said distance learning has been successful.
At the time of the survey, 26% said they lacked enough computers at home and nearly half said they lacked high-speed internet. Adequate connectivity has been a problem across the state. It was not immediate clear, based on materials released by the district, when the survey was conducted.
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Among the issues that strong majorities said were “very concerning” were: “ensuring your child is on track to graduate from high school” (60%) and “ensuring your child does not fall behind academically” (78%).
L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner on Monday renewed his call to make spending on schools a top budget priority. Although Gov. Gavin Newsom provided some protection to schools, the education budget still faces cuts of 10% or more.
How and when to reopen schools remains a topic of debate and uncertainty.
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Eighty percent of families said their children’s stress levels were higher than normal and about 60% said their own stress level was higher.
One in four families said they were having trouble meeting expenses and an additional 43% said they were just meeting expenses; 57% said someone in their household had “become unemployed” as a result of the pandemic.
Some 77% said they are making use of free meals being distributed by the nation’s second-largest school system.
Among the more worrisome findings is that 54% of those who responded said that a smartphone was their primary way to connect with the internet — and this despite the district’s efforts to provide a computer and internet access to every student. But it’s possible parents were answering for themselves and not necessarily in relation to their children’s efforts to do their schoolwork at home.
