Voters split on who should make decision on schools

BOSTON -- Forty-five percent of Massachusetts voters said in a new poll that President Donald Trump's advocacy for physically reopening schools made them much less likely to back in-person classes, while 13 percent said it made them much more likely to do so and 32 percent said it didn't change their opinion.

As teachers, students and families gear up for a pandemic-influenced new school year, Education Reform Advocacy Now's poll found a split on who voters think should set reopening benchmarks.

Thirty-seven percent said state public health experts and Gov. Charlie Baker, 36 percent said their local superintendent, school committee and teachers union, and 26 percent were unsure.

The online survey of 862 registered voters, conducted Aug. 12 through 15 by Change Research, showed a high level of consensus in whether teachers are considered essential workers -- 81 percent said yes -- and a suggested variety of opinions on what K-12 schools should do if COVID-19 cases remain at their current levels.

Twenty-six percent said schools should fully open in-person for all K-12 students, and 40 percent said schooling should stay remote "until cases go down or there is a vaccine."

More than half the respondents -- 58 percent -- said students should "take a common assessment to identify students in the most need of help in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic," compared to 23 percent who said they shouldn't.

Only 6 percent said they thought it was "very likely" that schools starting remotely will reopen in-person this academic year, and 30 percent classified it as "very unlikely."

If schools run remotely, the poll asked what should happen with funds "allocated for operating a regular school, like food services and transportation." Fourteen percent chose the option, "Districts should continue paying to operate unused services like school transportation and food service," while 86 percent said resources should be shifted to help families with pandemic-related needs like child care and at-home educational expenses.