Nearly one in five Hispanic parents say they have skipped or avoided a school event in the past year because of immigration concerns, according to a recent survey from the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. The findings, released during Hispanic Heritage Month, highlight how immigration policy fears are disrupting Hispanic families’ engagement with their children’s education and prompting some to consider different schooling options.
The survey found that 57% of Hispanic parents say the current immigration policy environment is at least a somewhat concerning factor in their family’s daily life. Fourteen percent have kept their child home from school, and 11% have avoided contacting a teacher or school staff member. For these families, fear is influencing decisions that once were simple, such as whether to attend a parent-teacher conference or send a child to class.
Krissia Campos Spivey, senior director of Conoce tus Opciones Escolares, a project of the National School Choice Awareness Foundation, said the issue transcends immigration politics. “When fear begins to influence whether a parent attends a school event, talks to a teacher, or sends a child to class, it becomes an education issue,” she said. A Salvadoran-American mother of two teenagers in traditional public schools, Campos Spivey noted that Latinos drove 28% of all U.S. economic growth last year alone, and that the Latino economy, standing on its own, would rank as the fourth largest in the world.
When asked what would help them navigate this moment, 41% of parents said they simply want clear information about their children’s right to a public education, regardless of immigration status. That right was affirmed by the Supreme Court more than four decades ago in Plyler v. Doe, which ruled that states cannot deny a free public education to a child because of immigration status. Yet that protection is only meaningful if families know about it.
The survey also found that 41% of Hispanic parents said immigration concerns have led them to consider, actively explore, or choose a different kind of school or learning environment for their child in the past year. That shift could have broad implications, as almost three in 10 public school students in the United States are Hispanic today, according to federal education data, and roughly one in four American children under 18 are Latino, a share that has been growing for years.
Campos Spivey emphasized that these numbers make Latino children’s education a central part of the nation’s future classrooms, workforce, and communities. She called on schools, districts, and community organizations to ensure families understand their child’s right to a public education in plain language and in the language they speak at home, and to help parents learn about available learning options so they can make informed decisions. Resources like Conoce Tus Opciones Escolares provide Spanish-speaking families with information to explore those options.
“A parent who knows what learning options are available to her child can make a confident, informed choice for that child’s future,” Campos Spivey said. “That is not a partisan ask. It is simply what every family in this country deserves.”
