Survey Says... More School Choice!

Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2008
ARTICLES

Parents want more educational choices.

That's the only conclusion one can draw from the results of a series of public opinion surveys the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has conducted in several states.

In five recent state surveys, more than four out of five parents would choose a school other than their regular public school, such as a private, charter, virtual or home school, if they could. A sixth survey found nearly three out of four parents - 73 percent - opting for schools other than the traditional public school.

Three years ago theFriedman Foundation for Educational Choice launched its Survey in the State series to examine the views of likely voters on school choice and other K-12 education issues. States polled to date include Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Illinois, Idaho, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Maryland. By the end of 2008, voters will be surveyed in Montana, Oregon and Vermont. Refer to friedmanfoundation.org for complete survey results.

"Friedman's survey series is fairly unique," says Paul DiPerna, who oversees the project for the Foundation. "Other projects may ask comprehensive sets of questions, but they are almost always focused on one or a few states, or use a national sample. We are setting out to ask a robust battery of K-12 and school choice-related questions across many states. This isn't the norm in academic or private polling. Our large samples also allow us to look at demographics and specific constituencies. Eventually we want to paint a picture of American public opinion rooted in state contexts, cultures, and demographics."

The state polling series has become a conversation starter with public officials. Legislators have expressed interest in the findings. For example in Tennessee, DiPerna presented the core findings to approximately 30 state legislators at a briefing organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council. In Idaho he sat down with 15 state legislators for a roundtable to discuss findings and comparisons with other states. These meetings open the opportunity to discuss existing school choice systems in other states, and debate K-12 policy and reform priorities.

The release of the Oklahoma survey results contributed to that state's continuing conversation on school choice, as a statewide Associated Press article, an editorial in the Oklahoman, the state's largest newspaper, several television news hits and numerous blog entries were all recorded within days of the release. "The survey results were widely noted and discussed, and helped advance this issue in a significant manner," said Brandon Dutcher, vice president of the Oklahoma Council on Public Affairs, a partner in the Oklahoma survey.

"The results so far indicate that first and foremost, parents unequivocally and overwhelmingly want more educational choices and options for their children," says Robert Enlow, Friedman's executive director. "We've seen strong support for private schools, charter schools, home schooling, and to a lesser extent, virtual schools."

Enlow says the survey series adds to the academic research and findings that Friedman and others have done on school choice issues."This series is starting to reveala number of solid trends, which we like to discuss with different audiences - parent groups, policy makers, members of the news media, business groups and others in selected states."

Between 1,000 and 1,200 likely voters were polled in each of the states. Atlanta-based Strategic Vision conducts the surveys on behalf of Friedman. Among the findings thus far:

• Culturally different states share a common desire for access to more school options. Respondents are not satisfied with the current system of public schools.
• Polling shows respondents are open-minded with respect to school choice reforms.
• Voters favor both universal eligibility and financial need-based eligibility for school vouchers and scholarships
• Polling shows respondents are definitely open to new school models.
• There is substantial support for school choice reforms across Democrats, Independents and Republicans.
• There is substantial support for school choice reforms across major demographic subgroups (defined as > 5% of total state sample).
• A person's age, possibly "life stage," appears to matter when it comes to attitudes toward school choice reforms - favorability for school vouchers and charter schools is highest among 36 to 55 year-olds.
• Private preferences do not reflect public realities demonstrated by school attendance in the current system. There is a disconnect.
• Knowledge about school choice is low baseline in the polled states, as there is a large information deficit about school choice reforms.

School choice promotion, marketing and coalition-building enables a think tank to access new audiences, expand its sphere of influence, teach how free markets work and argue why they are valuable. The school choice issue allows for "teachable moments" appealing to both champions of free markets and social justice. This kind of partnership-building and teaching adds credibility in the eyes of the media, bloggers, academics, and other "natural" skeptics. Friedman surveys, and other research activities, are key intelligence-gathering and partnership-building levers that are catalysts for public meetings such as roundtables and town halls, or private meetings for fundraising and movement building.

Joe DiLaura is the director of communications at the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice. Write him at joe@friedmanfoundation.org