Poll: 86% of Californians say children have fallen behind academically during pandemic

A new poll says more than eight in ten Californians think children are falling behind academically during the pandemic.

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released a new statewide survey of more than 1,600 adults. All of them weighing in on their thoughts about how children are doing in school amid COVID-19.

86% of Californians say children are falling behind academically during the pandemic, 64% of that group believe kids are falling behind a lot, while the remaining 22% say the fallback is little.

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Overall enrollment was down across the state by more than 160,000 students during the 2020-2021 academic year.

The adults surveyed also believed that students in lower-income areas and English-language learners were the most at risk for falling behind during the pandemic.

The survey also found that a majority of Californians feel that schools should be at least partially open now. Six in ten were concerned that schools would not be fully open this fall.

However, most Californians approve of how Gov. Gavin Newsom is handling the state's K-12 public education system. 57% of adults surveyed said they approve of the governor's approach.

Views of Newsom's handling of the K-12 public education system do break along party lines, the survey found, with 79% of Democrats, 52% of Independents and 22% of Republicans approving.

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With the end of the school year approaching, three in four parents favor conducting year-end state testing to measure the pandemic's impact on student learning overall.

Click here to read the full PPIC survey findings.

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