About three-quarters of America’s parents give high marks to the education their children currently receive, shows a new "State of Parenting" poll, part of the NBC News Parent Toolkit.
The poll, sponsored by Pearson, reveals that 40 percent of White parents and high earners are more likely to say their child has an “excellent” education rather than a good one, more than Hispanics at 27 percent. Minority groups are most likely to say their child has a “good” education.
However, Hispanics are more optimistic about their children being better off than they are. Sixty five percent of Hispanics believe their children will do better as opposed to African-Americans with 59 percent and Whites with 40 percent.
Overall, parents are spending more time with their children, but working parents have a harder time doing so. The poll shows that Hispanics rank higher with 60 percent of parents wishing they could be more involved when it comes to their child’s education and 40 percent are satisfied with their involvement.
As to the standards of education, Hispanics rank highest at 73 percent saying they are satisfied with the Common Core, a common set of education standards adopted by many states in 2010. Forty nine percent of White parents oppose.
These numbers also vary by political affiliation, with Democratic and Independent parents being high supporters of the Common Core.
Most parents seem to agree that more education means more success. Eighty six percent of parents believe students need a degree higher than a high school diploma to achieve the American Dream.
The parent toolkit shows that parent’s are generally optimistic about children’s future. It says that 79 percent of families are spending more time together more often than in previous years.
This finding comes after research has shown that teens who have family dinners frequently are more likely to be emotionally constant, have high-quality relationships with their parents and are drug free.
--Kelly Carrion