The first statewide poll of New Jersey parents this school year finds many families are struggling with remote learning particularly amongst low-income and minority families.
The survey commissioned by the New Jersey Children’s Foundation finds wide gaps in the educational opportunities afforded to low-income, Black, and Latinx students, as a result of the massive shift to remote learning, including lack of access to learning support programs and internet access. Kyle Rosenkrans is executive director of the Newark-based non-profit.
“In the same vein that the COVID 19 pandemic has exposed inequalities in our economic system, in our health care system, we think the poll is a loud voice from parents, saying that we are experiencing inequality in the way we experience our educational system.”
Rosenkrans says the study finds 52% of parents statewide say they have at least one child that is participating in remote learning only, 45% are in a hybrid model while 11% are fully in person. However, 70% percent of Black parents, 61% of Latinx parents, and 72% of low-income families say that their child is remote learning only, while low-income parents and parents of color are also less likely to report having the option of hybrid learning compared to 76 percent of white parents.
