Public opposes cutting school funding

The importance the public assigns to its public schools is evident in the latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, where nearly three-fourths of the respondents oppose reducing state spending for education as a means of dealing with the budget crises that many states face. Fifty-eight percent of those polled would increase state taxes to avoid such cuts, while 78 percent would avoid cuts in education spending by making cuts in other areas.

The poll, released in mid-August, also demonstrates that the debate on vouchers will continue to split Americans. Although a majority of Americans (52 percent) still oppose voucher schemes that would allow parents and students to "choose a private school to attend at public expense," support for the idea has grown, according to the poll. Support for private schooling at public expense rose from 34 percent last year to 46 percent, even at a time when support for public education remains high, notes the poll.

Almost half of Americans assign a grade of A or B to the public schools in their communities.

"An increase in support for vouchers doesn't make these schemes any more accountable to the public or more credible," said AFT president Sandra Feldman. "We're pleased by the strong show of support for public education demonstrated in this poll, and we're confident that the percentage of Americans who support school vouchers will dwindle when they learn how vouchers undermine accountability and divert money from public schools."

The poll also explored public reaction to the new reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Fifty-seven percent believe the federal government's increased involvement in education is a good thing, and 66 percent would "go so far as to have a national curriculum," reports the poll. The public also supports mandated testing in grades 3 through 8; ensuring that teachers are licensed in the subject areas they teach; and requiring that teachers pass a competency test before being licensed.
 

Voucher support an inch thick

A recent Associated Press poll shows that support for vouchers is flimsy at best--a stark contrast to the solid backing Americans give to proven education reforms such as teacher professional development and competitive salaries.

The AP poll of 1,011 adults was conducted July 17-21, less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in the Cleveland voucher case. The poll shows that, while people endorse the use of vouchers to help send children to private or parochial schools by a slim majority, support plummets when the public is asked if they favor voucher schemes that take money from public schools.

Americans oppose vouchers that drain money from public education by a 2-to-1 margin, AP reports. And erosion of support was seen across the board. Only four in 10 Republicans support such schemes. Support among Democrats falls to one in four, and only three in 10 Independents support vouchers that drain public schools.

The results stand in stark contrast to a 2002 poll, commissioned by the Educational Testing Service, that found that Americans both support and are willing to pay for such proven reforms as better teacher training and working conditions, as well as competitive teacher salaries (see the September issue of American Teacher). For example, 83 percent of those polled said they favor higher salaries for teachers even if it means paying higher taxes.

"The polls confirm earlier studies and echo what we've always heard in the field: Americans are not willing to sacrifice public education and sound methods of improving public schools to bankroll gimmicks like vouchers," says Foster Stringer, acting director of the AFT human rights and community relations department.
 

Special ed teachers get high marks

A survey from the Public Agenda polling group finds that parents of children in special education programs give these services high marks for quality. Local programs were rated "good" or "excellent" by 67 percent of parents whose children receive special education services.

"Parents say that teachers are caring and knowledgeable, and they give their own school good marks for providing high-quality services." The report also identifies problems with the system. Many parents said it was hard to get information on special services, and 65 percent said some children who have behavior problems, rather than disabilities, get misdirected into special education.

The study, "When It's Your Own Child: A Report on Special Education from the Families Who Use It," also finds that the minority of parents who are dissatisfied with programs express grave misgivings with the level of services, the quality of schools and special education staff. One in six special education parents has considered a lawsuit, the polling group reports.

While they share some of the concerns about the program raised by critics, many of the parents of special education students simply cannot imagine what their children's lives would be like without the special services provided by their public schools, the report says.

"Most of the parents surveyed by Public Agenda gave their own school programs good marks," Public Agenda president Deborah Wadsworth said. "But there is a frustrated minority who say they continually run up against an uncooperative, unhelpful bureaucracy."

Fifty-three percent of the parents surveyed rated their school as "good" or "excellent" in providing enough resources for kids with special needs. About a third (34 percent) said their schools need improvement. Ten percent said their school was "failing" on the question of resources.
 

Funding gap hurts poor and minority students

Recent reports show that the nation remains mired in a system of diminished education resources and limited opportunities for lower-income and minority families.

The Education Trust released a major report in August detailing a pervasive funding gap in preK-12 education that denies educational resources desperately needed by millions of low-income and minority students. It finds that districts with high numbers of low-income students receive substantially fewer state and local dollars per pupil than districts in wealthier communities. The same shortfall holds true for districts serving high numbers of minority students, the group reports.

"In too many states, we see yet again that the very students who need the most get the least," stated Education Trust director Kati Haycock following release of the report. "At a time when schools, districts and states are rightly focusing on closing the achievement gap separating low-income and minority students from other students, states can and must do more to close these funding gaps."

Nationally, districts that educate the greatest number of poor students receive $966 less per student in state and local funding than low-poverty districts, the nonprofit group warns in its report entitled The Funding Gap. And that gap grew by more than $100 per student in nine states in the 1997-2000 span.

The problem of diminished opportunities and limited resources for lower-income families doesn't end with high school. Higher education assistance continues to shift away from the need-based grants and loans that less-affluent families rely on. Instead, policymakers are shifting to tuition tax credits, college prepayment plans and tax-deferred savings--measures that provide little if any help to lower-income families.

Tight state budgets not only have ushered in the largest tuition hikes in years but also have sparked proposals for $5.5 billion in cuts to state higher education funding, warns Slamming Shut the Doors to College, a recent report prepared by Democratic congressional aides on Capitol Hill. The Bush administration has failed to recognize this need, states the report, pointing to the administration's FY 2003 budget proposal that would give financial aid to 375,000 fewer students.