National Poll Finds Overwhelming Support Among Black Teachers & Parents for ESAs
Support from 79% of Black teachers and 70% of Black parents point to post-pandemic era in favor of school choice.
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As parents become increasingly frustrated over pandemic learning loss, their desire for education savings accounts, or ESAs, has boomed 鈥 gaining overwhelming support from not only Black parents but also Black teachers, according to a new poll by .
The poll released by gathered respondents’ views on ESAs, a program giving families access to state education funds to pay for approved services, such as private school tuition, instructional materials and tutoring.
From the 634 parents interviewed, 59.7% support ESAs, with 14.6% opposed and 25.7% undecided.
Similar splits were seen among parents along party lines, with 67.5% of Democrats, 61.3% of Republicans and 55.3% of Independents in favor of ESAs.
But ESAs are certainly controversial, with supporters, often Republicans, backing the program鈥檚 boon for family empowerment; and opponents, often Democrats, arguing how the program undermines public education.
鈥淭he momentum we are seeing, not just with the public but with parents, educators and those who are in some way touching education in America right now is very much inspiring,鈥 said Erica Jedynak, chief operating officer of
According to the YouGov poll, support for ESAs is decisive among Black parents, with 70.3% in favor of the program. By comparison, 59.1% of white parents and 50.8% of Hispanic parents support ESAs.
The pattern is similar among teachers: From the 313 teachers interviewed, 58.8% support ESAs in contrast to 14.7% that oppose and 26.5% that are undecided.
Among Black teachers, however, 78.9% favor ESAs. By comparison, 56.2% of white teachers and 60.7% of Hispanic teachers favor the program.
ESAs also have broad support from teachers across the political spectrum, with 58.2% of Democrats, 63.8% of Republicans and 54% of Independents in favor.
Sadira Davis, a Black parent in Phoenix, Arizona, said that this comes to no surprise because public schools in Black communities are often considered incapable of providing a quality education.
鈥淢y daughter Eden was diagnosed with autism at four鈥nd when I transferred her to a public school kindergarten it was honestly devastating,鈥 Davis told The 74.
Davis said the staff at her public school were ill-equipped to manage students with special needs. In one particularly painful memory, Davis recalled her daughter was tied down as she rode the school bus.
鈥淚t was a traumatizing experience鈥hey had her harnessed and she had this face that looked like an animal chained to the bus,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淎t that point I needed something different for my kid.鈥
Davis鈥 daughter is now a 6th grade student at AZ Aspire Academy, a special education school, which Davis enrolled her by using funds from Arizona鈥檚 ESA program, the .
Black children are often the ones who 鈥渇all through the cracks in public school systems,鈥 said Tiffany Dudley, a former charter elementary school teacher in Phoenix, Arizona.
As the student development coach for , Dudley said that ESAs give Black parents the choice to have their child taught by teachers who have 鈥渨alked a mile in their shoes.鈥
鈥淧arents can鈥檛 necessarily demand their teacher give directions to their child in a different way, but they do have the choice to take them to another school that will better serve them,鈥 Dudley said.
Janelle Wood, founder and chief executive officer of , is shocked by the overwhelming support among Black teachers for ESAs, as they are often perceived as devoted supporters of public schools.
鈥淚 always scratch my head because oftentimes they’re the ones that get overlooked for promotions and retaliated against when they speak up on some of the injustices they see,鈥 Wood told The 74.
ESAs offer Black teachers the opportunity to work in settings they may have never been exposed to, such as private schools, microschools and learning pods.
鈥淢any of our educators feel limited in what they can teach and how they can go about administering the different educational models they learned when they went to school,鈥 Wood said. 鈥淭his gives them that flexibility and freedom, so I鈥檓 really pleased to hear their support.鈥
Disclosure: Yes. Every Kid. operates as part of the wider Stand Together Trust network. Stand Together Trust provides financial support to The 74.
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