First, the understandable part: of the 322,572 families who filed an online preference form, 212,940 requests 100% remote learning. That is 66% of families opting into remote learning.
Next, the upsetting part: the vast majority of the 1.1 million students within NYC did not complete the form. With that in mind, the de Blasio administration can claim that only 26% of children opted into remote learning which, while technically true, does not fully reveal that the vast majority of families simply didn't respond.
So, if we take that ratio of the respondents and apply it to the entire system, that would mean 66% of 1.1 million students would want to be remote only. That would yield 726,000 students staying home. This is obviously a calculation and not necessarily true-to-life, but I will be interested to see in my school how this plays out on day one. Many schools are discussing or beginning internal surveys to determine which parents are actually going to send their kids to school. If we don't have accurate data we can't plan for who will teach remotely and who will be in the building. Yet another reason why we shouldn't reopen buildings at this point.
Oh, and another union (DC37) said we should not reopen buildings yet.