School Satisfaction Among Low-Income Urban Parents

We examine the views of low-income urban parents toward their neighborhood school. Policymakers must understand the attitudes of these individuals, particularly because they represent some of the most vulnerable groups in our education system. As national education policies have made it easier for parents to choose schools, attention has increasingly focused on parental satisfaction and its predictors. Using a unique survey of low-income urban residents in 10 cities, combined with test score and graduation data, we find that these parents express favorable attitudes toward their neighborhood schools, with weak but statistically significant connections to objective ratings of school performance.