Today the national non-profit 50CAN issued a report called “ “The State of Educational Opportunity in America,” a state-by-state examination of how parents feel about K-12 education in our post-pandemic world. Researchers surveyed 20,,000 parents across the country on perceptions of school quality and opportunity; tutoring, summer programs, and mental health; out of school activities; information and engagement; and college and career readiness.

National Takeaways:

• Access to extracurricular activities matters: “Students doing well inside the classroom also are much more likely to have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities outside the classroom.” This is not due to lack of interest but equitable access: 50% of low-income families want their children to participate in programs but currently have no opportunity to do so. 

• This lack of access hits middle-class families too: Only 32% of middle-class parents are confident their children will be prepared for college, nine percentage points lower than high-income families
• There are tremendous disparities in school satisfaction depending on school type. Sixty-five percent of parents who send their children to private or parochial school are “very satisfied” but only39% of traditional public school parents feel that way.
• Students who get high grades are more likely to have access to tutors. Lower-performing students (C’s and D’s) are less likely to have receive tutoring services.

New Jersey Takeaways:

• In New Jersey, according to survey results, 41% of high-income parents, 40% of middle-income parents, and 43% of low-income parents are satisfied with their schools. (National average: 45%.)
• NJ parents are close to the national average, about 65%, when asked, “would you choose this school today?”
• 65% of American parents feel like “they have a choice” when selecting public schools. The percentage is lower in NJ: 61% of high-income families, 61% of middle-income families, and 56% of low-income families agree they have a choice. 
• In NJ, more middle-class (24%) and high-income (25%) families say their children have access to tutoring, compared to 19% of low-income families. 
• One out of three NJ families feel they have access to school quality information, about the same as national averages; fewer feel they are “very familiar” with school budgets.
• Compared to national averages, NJ parents are slightly less likely to say they feel confident in their school’s ability to adequately preparing their children for colleges and careers, 30% are confident, compared to 34% nationwide.