New Poll: Black Single Moms Want More School Choice — and Will Vote that Way

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Nearly 70% of Black single mothers of school-aged children believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, a new survey shows. Nearly 90% don’t believe the traditional approach to public school meets students’ needs, and 56% have considered changing their children’s schools in the last year. 

The survey of 504 middle- to low-income Black single moms was commissioned by The Current Project, a New York City-based advocacy organization focused on supporting the well-being of Black single mothers. Founder Alisha Gordon said strengthened public school systems and economic security are very important to these women in the upcoming presidential election.

Gordon, who is the Black single mother of a Spelman College student, highlighted three key takeaways from the survey:

1. Black single moms want more school choice

Nearly seven in 10 moms surveyed have children attending traditional public schools. The overwhelming majority (87%) said they believe a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. Attention to students’ special needs, academics, test scores and the cultural, ethnic or racial composition of a school are all very important to this demographic. More than half — 56% —  answered yes to whether they have considered a different school for their children in the last year, though only 26% of those chose a new school or decided to homeschool. 

“For our particular focus, it really is about how public school choice is considered to be an interrupter,” Gordon said. “When we think about the social, economic and educational inequities that children of Black single mothers often face in the educational system, having the kind of choice that allows them to really tailor their experiences that their children need wherever they live can serve as an interrupter for a lot of these social, economic and educational disparities.”

Six in 10 surveyed strongly agreed that they were more likely to vote for a candidate who supported giving parents more choices in where their kids can go to school. Respect for their child’s gender identity, class sizes, and availability of gifted and talented programs and after-school child care were extremely important to those surveyed.

2. Black single mothers want their needs validated by elected officials

Black women are a crucial voting bloc this year, as they were in 2020, when 93% supported President Biden. Yet, the majority of women surveyed believe the country is headed in the wrong direction. 

Sixty percent of respondents said they would definitely vote in the upcoming primary despite believing that the majority of elected officials are doing a poor job of responding to their issues.

Nearly all the moms polled have had difficulty dealing with inflation and the rising cost of living. Gordon said many of these women earn too much to qualify for certain government assistance but not enough to cover the cost of basic needs.

“We want people to take Black single mothers seriously,” Gordon said. “We want to take their needs, concerns and aspirations seriously, and really think about how the resourcing and their particular thriving has an impact on all of our thriving because of the level of responsibility they have to the millions of children that they care for.”

3. School leaders must diversify how they engage with single parents

Nearly three-quarters of the Black moms surveyed said their stress levels are moderate to high. Gordon said single parents are often wrongly labeled as disengaged because barriers like working multiple jobs are not taken into account. She said schools can better engage with single moms through parent advocates and liaisons, and by following a community school model that might offer meeting times after school and work hours. Providing health care and a food pantry for students can also help.

“How do we offer these kinds of wraparound experiences to ensure that Black single mothers in particular have all the information that they need and that the information is accessible?” Gordon asked. “We hear stories all the time, and I remember raising my daughter, where the PTA meeting is at 6 o’clock in the afternoon, but if I’m working till 7, you miss that opportunity to really engage.”

Gordon also recommended parent surveys offered through Google Classroom and Google Forms so schools can connect with families by asking, listening, responding and acting even when they can’t be there in person. 

Gordon said the survey is the first to poll this demographic of Black women about their attitudes toward the country and school choice. The poll was conducted by the research group Evaritus between Nov. 18 and Dec. 12, 2023, by phone and online. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.36%.

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