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Support
for public schools is at its highest point in more than three decades,
when polling in this area began, according to the latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup
Poll of the public’s attitudes toward pubic schools.
A majority of respondents graded the public schools in their community
with an A or B. Of those who are parents with children in the schools,
62 percent gave their schools an A or B. This percentage of support
was the highest recorded in 33 years of polling.
The closer a respondent was to the school, the higher the rating. Asked
to rate the public schools nationally and locally, the gradings were
highest for the schools that were closest. One interesting difference:
this year, more of those questioned had a specific opinion about public
schools. Those responding “don’t know what grade to give”
was only 7 percent — half what it was last year.
Questions in other areas confirmed the public’s support for our
school system. For example, faced with the choice of reforming the existing
system or finding an alternative, 72 percent would rather stay with
public schools.
The same percent — 72 — favored improving and strengthening
public schools over providing vouchers to use in private or church-related
schools. An identical amount opposed contracting with businesses to
run an entire school’s operations. At 72 percent, the opposition
to this contracting is at an all-time high.
Parents continued to report feeling there is an over-emphasis on standardized
testing. That number nearly doubled in the past year. But the public
appeared to be split on whether a single standardized test should determine
whether a child is promoted to the next grade. The same split was evident
when asked whether a test should determine whether a student receives
a high school diploma.
The complete poll can be found online at http://pdkintl.org.
It is always interesting to see the public perception of the public
schools at any given point in time. So often the perceptions at the
national level are shaped by national media located in big cities, where
the education systems face the challenges of urban schooling and generally
lower funding than the suburbs. Year after year, respondents grade schools
in the nation lower than their own schools — the ones they can
see first-hand. And that response is consistent throughout the country.
Most businesses rise or fall on customer satisfaction, so it is particularly
rewarding to see that the Gallup Poll shows the highest school ratings
ever from parents with children in school. It is not nearly unanimous
and there are of course areas that need major attention. But while we
continue to work in areas where parents are not satisfied, and where
improvements are needed, we still need to take strength and be sustained
by the support that does exist by a wide margin of parents nationwide.
The Gallup Poll demonstrates that parents who witness first-hand what
the schools are doing with their own children — for whom they are
the world’s strongest partisans and when needed, harshest critics
— continually show the strongest support for what is going on in
their local classrooms. This is good news as we strive to do even better.
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