In 2014, for the first time, the overall number of Latino, African American, and Asian students in public K–12 classrooms in America surpassed the number of non-Hispanic white students. To better understand what this “majority minority” student body might mean for public education going forward, the folks at the Leadership Conference Education Fund asked Latino and African American parents what they thought about America’s K–12 system, as well as what sort of education they want for their children.
Researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of eight hundred African American and Latino adults (parents, grandparents, etc.) actively involved in raising a school-aged child, also conducting focus groups in Chicago (Latinos) and Philadelphia (African Americans).
As with other such surveys, a large majority of parents rated their own children’s schools as “excellent” or “good” at preparing students for success in the future. (It is interesting to note, however, that parents whose children attended schools that were mostly white were more likely to rate those schools positively.) Yet parents were also pessimistic about the quality of public schools writ large—especially for students of color. And they felt that funding, technology, and excellent teachers were inequitably distributed in favor of predominantly white and high-income schools.
The survey does not delve deeply into parents’ bias toward their children’s schools, but it does offer an interesting clue: When participants were asked what factors propelled low-income African American or Latino students into college, the overwhelming response was “support from family”; “the students’ own hard work” came in second. “Education received at school” was a distant third. And when researchers asked whether U.S. schools even try to educate African American and Latino children, the vast majority of respondents chose “they are trying their best, even if they often leave many behind.” A new take on the soft bigotry of low expectations?
The authors of the report tout the finding that parents perceive themselves to have “a lot of power” to bring about needed changes, despite also seeing themselves as holding less sway than state and federal government, superintendents, and school boards. So perhaps one way to narrow the achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their white peers is to give this new education majority more power to influence education in their communities by expanding high-quality schools of choice and assisting moms and dad in picking the best schools for their children.
One way or another, policy makers ought to start listening. Higher expectations for students, better technology, welcomed parental involvement, access to tutors, and top-quality teachers are all high on the wish list for these parents. Sounds like they know what they’re talking about.
SOURCE: Anzalone, Liszt, Grove Research, “New Education Majority: Attitudes and Aspirations of Parents and Families of Color,” The Leadership Conference for Education Fund (April 2016).
