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Families are mostly satisfied with their LAUSD schools — although they want improvements in school safety and better mental health services for students, an annual survey of district parents has found.
The 79-page “Family Insights” report found LAUSD families saw improvements in their schools in the past year, with support for leadership of the nation’s second-largest district increasing significantly.
The 2025 version of the annual poll, published by the L.A.-based nonprofit education advocacy group GPSN, found nearly three-quarters of families approve of both Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and the LAUSD school board, ratings that exceeded those of last year.
Its findings were based on surveys of more than 500 LAUSD families conducted in the fall and again in February.
Most families gave their schools a “B” grade overall, GPSN Executive Vice President Ana Teresa Dahan said in an interview, acknowledging the positive direction of their kids’ education, while also seeing the need for more growth in certain areas.
“We have had some big crises happening, and I think families are generally happy with how the district has responded to those crises,” said Dahan of the poll’s results.
“Families think that their kids are doing well in school,” she added.
A report published earlier this year by GPSN found LAUSD at a critical turning point, with fresh obstacles from the wildfires, changes in federal aid and new policies under the Trump administration, including immigration crackdowns, causing stiff headwinds for the district.
The GPSN poll found 63% of families thought LAUSD students and their own children were performing at the right level or above in reading and math, up from 54% last year.
Almost 90% of parents rated instruction at their child’s school positively on this year’s report.
Just over half of families surveyed in the poll said kids’ emotional and mental health needs have become the top priority in public education. Parents said they want schools to provide mental health services, such as counseling, both during and outside the instructional day.
More than half of families surveyed — 55% — said they did not feel adequately represented in district policy decisions, although that figure improved from last year when just 34% felt well-represented.
The poll found a majority of LAUSD families value high-quality teaching and instruction, and nearly half of parents also identify free home internet and high-quality tutoring as their top three priorities.
LAUSD students made gains in their scores on the district’s most recent state reading and math exams, but most kids in the district still didn’t meet state proficiency standards. LAUSD made progress on federal assessments released this year but failed to duplicate earlier successes.
In a written response to the GPSN report, a LAUSD spokesperson said the district is receiving good feedback from parents, and school officials are committed to better listening to families.
“Los Angeles Unified is proud that a majority of parents in a recent GPSN survey expressed satisfaction with their schools,” a district spokesperson said in a statement. “This continued growth in parent confidence affirms the hard work of our educators and staff.”