Drew Wilson
It’s back-to-school time in Florida. Most students in the Sunshine State will return to school this month and families are busy preparing for the new year.
While many parents are thrilled to have moved on from pandemic-era learning, there are still some serious concerns on their minds as children head back to school.
“Headlines of war, climate change, and the pandemic’s health and financial toll abound. As parents prepare for the upcoming school year, mounting inflation is yet another reminder of an unpredictable future,” according to a Deloitte Insights report detailing the findings of Deloitte’s Annual Back to School Survey.
A majority of parents are concerned about the economy, with 54% expecting it to weaken in the next six months, and 57% concerned about inflation.
But that’s not the only worry on parents’ minds this year. Half (50%) of parents surveyed are concerned about their child’s mental health.
Despite these economic and psychological concerns, which are weighing heavy on parents’ minds, they are not holding back on spending. Simply put, parents are “making it happen.” They expect to spend 8% more than last year on school supplies, apparel and equipment.
One type of school supply on which parents expect to spend less this year is devices.
“The pandemic-fueled digital acceleration has reached a saturation point,” according to Deloitte, “but remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.”
Plus, four in five (81%) families surveyed report that students are provided the devices and tech tools they need by their schools.
The Deloitte Insights report was authored by Nick Handrinos, Stephen Rogers, Lupine Skelly and Rodney Sides. Deloitte, which has six locations and more than 5,000 professionals in Florida, provides industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to many of the world’s most admired brands, including nearly 90% of the Fortune 500, more than 7,000 private companies, and hundreds of government agencies at the federal, state and local levels.
4 comments
Elliott Offen
August 6, 2022 at 8:25 am
Yeah businesses paying employees nothing, passing every penny of extra cost to the customer, dodging taxes, all while raking in mega profits off of everyone else’s ass including the government…. while government does nothing about any of it. Republicans would do even less than nothing. God bless this greedy and hellbound nation of dumb dogs.
James Cole
August 6, 2022 at 8:30 am
DeSantis or Republicans for that matter, have not been helping schools. Florida teachers are under paid and overwhelmed. Simply because of morons. Every time a tax increase referendum comes up on a ballot for education, stupid Republicans cry, “why should I pay taxes for kids I don’t know.” Or “I want a voucher because they teach CRT” (which they don’t).
My 9 yo granddaughter has to share a workbook and provide her own dry erase markers because the school doesn’t have the resources to provide what we called in the old days, chalk! Because of DeSantis’ stance on gun laws, teachers are now in a more dangerous position than the police in this state.
Teachers are exhausted. They are tired of people less educated telling them how and what to teach! It is no wonder Florida has some of the lowest rated school districts in the nation, and teachers are leaving the profession.
If we truly want to help the schools. give them more resources and let educators make decisions as to what is best for our children. Chances are they have kids too!
At some point, school boards need to get the hell out of the way, and let teachers teach. Unless their objective is to teach the ignorance of previous generations.
I’ve always said, “Just because they are your parents, it doesn’t mean they are smart “.
With that said. Bless your heart.,,,
PeterH
August 6, 2022 at 12:41 pm
Here’s two more ‘back to school’ challenges for parents:
Parents should be very concerned that Florida and Arizona schools are so desperate for teachers that both states have decided to hire unqualified teachers with two years of College education. Who made this decision? Are school departments also loosening vetting requirements? Yup! You guessed right on WHY TEACHERS are leaving the profession in Florida. Florida starts the school year with 9000 teacher vacancies. Are parents concerned that 50% of Florida’s third graders can’t read?
Parents should be very concerned with the social media giant TikTok which markets deadly and dangerous activity “games” …. really the federal government should ban this App.
YYep
August 6, 2022 at 1:22 pm
So they have sand buildings and accountings skills but without engineering and physics along with science they really have nothing.
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