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Millennials of Color Believe the Trump Administration Has
Made “No Progress at All” at Ensuring All Children Are Given
Equal Access to a Quality Education
A survey released last week by The Genforward Survey Project
at the University of Chicago found that majorities of
millennials of color believe that the Trump administration
has made “no progress at all” at ensuring all children are
given equal access to a quality education. However, nearly
half of millennials believe the Obama administration made
“some progress”. The survey also found that 30 percent of
African-American, 43 percent of Asian-American, 27 percent
of Latinx, and 32 percent of white millennials have a “very
unfavorable” opinion of U.S. Department of Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos. And as teachers in one of the largest
school districts in the country prepare to strike,
overwhelming numbers of millennials across race and
ethnicity, when given the choice between strengthening
teachers’ unions or weakening them, support strengthening
them.
A breakdown of key findings per race and ethnicity follows
at the bottom of this article.
When given 14 choices that ranged from increasing school
choice to more testing, African American, Asian American,
Latinx, and white millennials, across race and ethnicity,
named increasing school funding and increasing teachers’ pay
as among the most important ways to improve public education
in their local school district(s). The same study found that
a majority of millennials of color support race-based
affirmative action programs designed to increase the
African-American and Latinx/Hispanic students on college
campuses. However, a substantial number of millennials of
color also indicate that race should not be an appropriate
factor when making admissions decisions.
“What our findings tell us is that when given a range of
choices to improve public education, from starting more
charter schools to returning to a back to the basics
curriculum, young adults of color believe that if we
adequately funded our schools and supported the teaching
staff that would do the most to improve education. Clearly,
these young people are willing to support such efforts like
charter schools, but they do not believe more charter
schools to be the most effective way to improve public
education,” said Cathy Cohen, Principal Investigator and
Founder of The GenForward Project.
“These results, especially those related to affirmative
action show us that millennials of color have complex and
seemingly contradictory opinions on affirmative action,”
Cohen. “I believe they understand the need and support the
existence of affirmative action programs today, but
aspirationally they would prefer if race, ethnicity and
gender did not need to be considered in admission for the
equal treatment of students of color.”
Other findings from the survey:
·
Nearly two-thirds of millennials believe that students with
fewer economic resources get a worse education than other
students.
·
Significant numbers of millennials, ranging from 53 percent
of African American and Latinx millennials, to 57 percent of
Asian American and 59 percent of white, also believe that
good schools can make up for the effects of poverty on
educational outcomes.
·
65 percent of African American millennials, 60 percent of
Asian American millennials, 59 percent of Latinx millennials,
and 46 percent of white millennials believe students of
color get a worse education than White students.
Nearly 2,000 African American, Asian American, Latinx, and
white millennials were polled in the survey. The GenForward
Project releases surveys bi-monthly, paying special
attention to how race and ethnicity shape how millennials
experience and think about the world. Other topics the
participants were polled on include: government-funded
school vouchers; charter schools; the return on investment
and affordability of college; student loan debt; and school
safety.
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