About half of parents (48%) now say their children’s schooling will be conducted fully online this fall, up from 41% in early August, according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey weekly tracking poll. Nearly a quarter of parents (24%) say their children’s school will follow a hybrid model, with a mixture of online and in-person learning, versus just 20% who say their children will be attending school fully in-person.
Whether and how schools reopen has become a politically charged conversation: Republicans and GOP leaners are nearly three times as likely as Democrats and Democratic leaners and nearly twice as likely as independents to say their children will be attending school fully in-person (30% vs. 12% and 17%, respectively). Republicans are also the least likely to say that all learning will be conducted online for their children (36% among Republicans vs. 59% among Democrats and 53% among independents).
Differences by race and income are stark, as well: 27% of white parents but just 12% of Black parents, 12% of Hispanic parents, and 14% of Asian parents say their children will be attending school fully in-person. About six in 10 Black, Hispanic, and Asian parents say their children will be attending school fully virtually, compared with about four in 10 white parents.
The reopening debate extends beyond schools: a steadily growing share of the U.S. public is more concerned that businesses are reopening too slowly rather than too quickly (42%, up from 33% in early July).
View the full results by partisanship below.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
