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Dear John,

It's week 236 of our new reality and we are thinking about what parents are telling us about educational opportunities in America.

Last week, we released a major report ([link removed]) with insights from 20,000 parents across the country—our largest project ever. Alongside the 215-page national report, we’ve made the entire data set publicly available to make it easier for advocates to uplift the voices of parents and put kids first.

This week, we’re highlighting some of the most compelling findings and showcasing how 18 state-specific reports are bringing these insights to life. We also look at how these results are influencing the policy conversations in powerful ways.

A special thank you goes out to everyone who helped spread the word, including Andy Rotherham in his Eduwonk newsletter ([link removed]) and Emily Oster in her Parent Data ([link removed]) newsletter. Emily captured it best when she said:

“If you are interested in education policy, or in how education works in America, or if you’re a parent (in fact, this entire audience): a new nationwide survey of 20,000 parents goes deep into how parents feel about school, extracurriculars, and more. There is so much in this report.”

We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.

If you’re joining us this week at the PIE Network Annual Summit in sunny San Diego, we’d love to connect in person. Join 50CAN’s Chief of Staff, Samantha Kobbah, and me at our workshop on Wednesday at 10:45 a.m. in the Fairway III room. We’ll be handing out free copies of our new AdvocacyLabs book and personalized state survey results for every attendee. Together, we’ll dive into how these tools can supercharge your campaigns through an interactive, hands-on session.

We hope to see you there!
Best,

Marc Porter Magee, PhD
50CAN Founder and CEO

@marcportermagee ([link removed])

Dig in to our survey
We’re a few days out from our launch of The State of Educational Opportunity in America: A 50-State Survey of 20,000 Parents ([link removed]) last week and we couldn’t be more energized by the conversations it’s already sparking.

This isn’t just another national opinion survey—it’s a deep dive into the lived experiences of families in all 50 states, offering a fresh lens on the challenges and aspirations shaping education today. With data that cuts across everything from school satisfaction to extracurricular access, we’re only beginning to unpack the full story. We expect it to be a rich source of insights for months to come.

Take sports, for example. We’ve known that access to athletics is growing more unequal in America, but the survey data lays it bare: participation gaps have grown alarmingly large. Our takeaway? If we’re serious about leveling the playing field in education, we need to start with the literal playing field. Too many kids are being left on the sidelines.
And that’s just one of the many findings that grabbed our attention. Consider the vast disparities between states. There’s a 29-point gap between the highest and lowest states on parent participation, a 34-point gap on tutoring and a staggering 37-point gap on summer learning opportunities.

When we dig into income differences, a troubling pattern emerges: inequality isn’t just about what happens during the school day, but also about what happens after school. High-income families are able to access afterschool programs, the arts, and tutoring at nearly twice the rate of low-income families. And in high school, the gap between demand for career and technical education and actual access is a shocking 55 points.

So, take a look and let us know: What stands out to you? What stories do these numbers tell about the future of educational opportunity in America?

* The task this week is to examine your own state in the State of Educational Opportunity in America ([link removed]) and share the findings that need to be seen.

Learn from Liz

In a new memo ([link removed]) we’re releasing today in collaboration with FutureEd at Georgetown University, Liz Cohen examined the Educational Opportunity Survey to see how it can help move the debate over tutoring forward. What she found was striking.
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“Wealthy parents are three times as likely to say their child participates in tutoring outside of school compared to lower-income parents. More than 40 percent of families in the survey’s highest income bracket, families making over $500,000 a year, report their child receives tutoring outside of school hours,” Cohen writes ([link removed]) . “These are not students who are failing courses—it’s students already earning A’s, B’s, and C’s. What these new data show is that students who are already doing alright in school, and who are more likely to do just fine in life, continue to have the most access to the single most impactful academic support we have. In short, tutoring in America is mostly for students looking to get ahead, not those who have already fallen behind.”

Cohen also makes the argument, by looking at the survey data, that quicker family adoption of tutoring programs will require parents to have far more accurate information on their children’s academic progress: “In this survey, in fact, almost 90 percent of parents say their child is at or above grade level in math and reading. But if that was true, schools and parents would see higher scores on state tests and national tests like NAEP and more kids would be thriving in postsecondary education.”

FutureEd and other groups will continue to examine the results to find lessons for policymakers and advocates over the coming weeks and we’re excited to share these analyses as they come out.

Want to do your own analysis on the policy issue that matters to you? You can download the survey toplines and request the full data set for free on our report page ([link removed]) .

* The task this week is to dig deeper into state tutoring numbers and explore how Liz’s analysis might be at play in your local context.


We are thrilled by how many state education leaders inside and outside of the 50CAN network stepped forward to create survey reports of their own in just the first week:

Bluum released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Idaho, pointing out urgent mental health needs while also noting strong numbers of parents who feel they have access to school choice. The team spoke ([link removed]) with Idaho Ed News, who reported, “A new national survey of parents and guardians of school-aged children showed that more Idaho parents feel they have a choice on where their child attends school than the national average.”

CarolinaCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in North Carolina, calling attention to parents’ demand for greater access to tutoring.

ConnCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Connecticut, emphasizing low school satisfaction numbers and major participation gaps for low-income families in tutoring and afterschool programs. CT Insider interviewed ([link removed]) ConnCAN Executive Director Steve Hernández, writing, “According to the report, parents and families in every state were united in fears surrounding their child's educational offerings and success. Access to opportunities varied between low and high-income families, and those gaps were particularly striking in Connecticut.”

DelawareKidsCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Delaware, focusing on the urgent need for more tutoring programs and low family engagement rates.

Fordham Ohio released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Ohio, highlighting that two-thirds of Ohio parents feel like they have a choice in where to send their children to school.

The Foundation for Florida’s Future released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Florida, highlighting problematic income gaps in after school programs and workforce preparation.

GeorgiaCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Delaware, highlighting the problematic position of Georgia ranking at the top of the country in unmet demand for afterschool activities and encouraging results from the last decade of school choice advocacy in the state.

HawaiiKidsCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Hawaii, spotlighting low school satisfaction numbers alongside parent concerns over whether their child would be ready for the workforce or college.

Institute for Quality Education released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Indiana, investigating why school satisfaction for Hoosiers is so low while parents feeling like they have a choice is high.

JerseyCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in New Jersey, shouting out the Granite State’s nation leading numbers in out-of-school activities while expressing concern over low confidence numbers in workforce and college preparation. New Jersey Education Report’s Laura Waters also weighed in ([link removed]) on the findings, writing, “Compared to national averages, NJ parents are slightly less likely to say they feel confident in their school’s ability to adequately preparing their children for colleges and careers, 30% are confident, compared to 34% nationwide.”

Louisiana Kids Matter released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Louisiana, homing in on the state’s nation-leading workforce development initiatives and the need to expand tutoring access to low-income families.

The National School Choice Awareness Foundation drove media in a number of states, sharing the results from Nebraska ([link removed]) to Minnesota ([link removed]) .

NewMexicoKidsCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in New Mexico, emphasizing dissatisfaction with schools and a fissure between how parents believe their children are performing academically and what NAEP results tell us. NMEducation covered ([link removed]) the report, writing, “A new survey of more than 400 New Mexico parents of school-aged children shows widespread dissatisfaction with the state’s public schools, that communication gaps between schools and parents are a serious concern, and that many parents have misperceptions about their children’s academic achievement.”

TennesseeCAN released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Tennessee, determining that across the board, family income determines the educational opportunities available to them. Executive Director Chelsea Crawford spoke ([link removed]) with WGNS in Nashville, telling the outlet: “Tennessee parents who participated in this survey reinforced a strong sense of optimism and aspiration that I have always known to be true in the Volunteer State. That is, we believe in our kids, we believe in the value of K-12 education, and we are willing to do what it takes to ensure all our students can learn and achieve in school and beyond.”

Transform Education Now released ([link removed]) The State of Educational Opportunity in Colorado, ringing the alarm over student mental health, particularly for low-income families. Executive Director Nicholas Hernandez joined ([link removed]) Colorado Public Radio to discuss the results, with Boardhawk doing additional reporting ([link removed]) , writing, “Colorado easily outranks the national average of families who believe they can pick any school they want – 75% to 65%. Results varied greatly, however, by income levels. While 81% of middle- and high-income parents believe choice is real, only 60% low-income parents agreed.”

If you want to bring the survey into your state, contact (mailto:[email protected]) Samantha Kobbah, 50CAN Chief of Staff, to learn more about how we can partner together to produce a state survey report.

We’re putting the spotlight on a single key resource this week, but it’s one that’s well worth your time. AEI’s John Bailey took the Educational Opportunity Survey and turned it into an AI-powered podcast episode ([link removed]) . It’s another example of the powerful ways in which this developing technology may change how we learn, transforming in-depth reports into podcasts so lifelike you wouldn’t know it was produced in minutes by AI unless you were told.

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In a world dominated by digital connections, there’s still nothing that compares to the impact of learning face-to-face. That’s why we were thrilled to travel to Nevada to present our survey results and engage in rich conversations with the Opportunity 180 team, alongside some of the state’s most forward-thinking education leaders and advocates. It was a chance not just to share insights, but to learn from the experts on the ground who are shaping the future of education in Nevada.

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ABOUT 50CAN

50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now is a nonprofit organization that works at the local level to advocate for a high-quality education for all kids, regardless of their address.

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