Surveying LGBTQ Americans and School Parents

June is Pride Month, an important time for those of us in the field of education to listen to the perspectives of LGBTQ students and school parents.

This time last year, I wrote a piece on what our polling can tell us on how LGBTQ Americans feel about the state of K-12 education in the U.S. Long story short, the numbers reflected concern within the community. So, a year later, how have things changed?

We ask Americans and school parents how they’re feeling about the direction of national K–12 education every month as part of our Public Opinion Tracker survey series. In partnership with Morning Consult, EdChoice surveyed a nationally representative sample of American adults (N = 2,252) and school parents (N = 1,374) from April 10-13, 2026.

Let’s start by getting a baseline. Since last spring, public opinion on national K-12 education has remained fairly steady and not very optimistic. In May 2025, a quarter of Americans (28%) said that education was going in the right direction at the national level, and half (49%) said education was on the wrong track. This April, 26% of American adults felt optimistic, while 50% were pessimistic on the same question. Almost identical numbers to last spring.

Last year, we found that LGBTQ respondents were 10 points more pessimistic than the general public on the direction of education nationwide. Only 15% of LGBTQ Americans said education was on the right track—the single most pessimistic group, out of the dozens of demographic groups we include in our survey results.

However, this year, the divide in opinion seems to be less pronounced. Twenty-three percent of LGBTQ adults say national education is on the right track. While this is not a high level of optimism, it’s only 3 points removed from what Americans as a whole are feeling right now. Fifty-six percent of LGBTQ adults say education is on the wrong track—6 points higher than Americans in general. That’s a lower level of contrast compared to this time last year.

That said, LGBTQ adults remain one of the more pessimistic demographic groups, alongside people who are politically left-leaning, adults with college education, and Baby Boomers.

But what about LGBTQ parents who currently have kids in school? When we take a closer look, a familiar pattern emerges.

In April, 42% of school parents said education is going in the right direction, and 46% said it’s on the wrong track. This isn’t surprising. School parents typically feel a bit more positive about the current state of education than the general public.

However, when we look at LGBTQ parents, the divide in opinion reemerges. Under a third of LGBTQ parents (32%) feel optimistic about national education, and well over half (55%) say education is on the wrong track in the United States.

It’s striking that while we see a less pronounced difference in opinion among the general population this year, a divide persists among school parents. LGBTQ parents are more concerned than their straight counterparts—by about the same 10-point difference we observed last year.

To put it another way, the phenomenon of school parents feeling more optimistic about education than the general public seems to be somewhat muted among LGBTQ individuals. School parents in general are 16 points more positive about national education than Americans. In contrast, LGBTQ school parents are only 9 points more positive than LGBTQ Americans.

But what about school choice? In almost all cases LGBTQ Americans and LGBTQ parents are more supportive of choice than the general population.

When asked if they support ESAs (after being given a description) 69% of LGBTQ respondents and 88% of LGBTQ parents stated that they did. By comparison, 68% of the general population and 79% of parents said they supported ESAs.

In fact, 61% of LGBTQ parents said that they “strongly” supported ESAs, the single highest “strongly support” number for any of the crosstabs that we track.

When asked about school vouchers (with a description), 59% of LGBTQ respondents and 81% of LGBTQ parents said that they supported them. In the general population, 62% said that they supported vouchers and parents supported vouchers at a rate of 76%.

Of course, these numbers don’t paint a complete picture. Our survey questions capture a snapshot of public opinion, and they can’t explain the full story behind why LGBTQ school parents might feel more pessimistic about education in America right now or why they are so supportive of school choice.

But it is eye-opening to take note of how different groups view K-12 education. At the end of the day, it’s important for every family to be able to find a school environment that meets the needs of their children.

I encourage you to dive into the full crosstabs on our polling website and explore the perspectives of different groups on K-12 education topics. There are a lot of valuable insights to be gained.

This was originally published to our Substack.