PUBLIC STILL SUPPORTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS BUT MAY BE MOVING AWAY
By Anne C. Lewis for America Tomorrow
Anne C. Lewis
Bloomington, Ind.--The American mood toward public schooling is definitely shifting even though the annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll shows continued support for improving them.
More than two-thirds of those polled believed that improvement of public schools was more important than finding alternative systems. However, the long-standing opposition to public support of private schooling is eroding, according to the 1997 poll results. The poll asked about support of private schooling two ways--"at public expense" and "at government expense." The first version found 44 percent supporting the idea, compared to just 24 percent in the 1993 poll. On the latter version of the wording, the publicwas evenly split.
Support for a government voucher to pay all or part of the tuition of students at any public, private, or church-related school also continued to grow--from 43 percent a year ago to 49 percent this year.
The reforms most endorsed by the public to improve schools were placing a computer in every classroom, establishing national standards for measuring academic performance, moving persistent "troublemakers" to alternative schools, and allowing families to choose a public school. Approval for these ideas ranged from 73 percent to 81 percent. Receiving less but still substantial support were using standardized national tests to measure achievement, grouping students in classes according to ability level, establishing a national curriculum, and providing health-care services in schools.
President Clinton's major education proposals also received high marks. The public approved tax credits for parents of first-year college students by 82 percent, favored placing a computer with Internet access in every classroom by 66 percent, and supported national tests in reading and math by 57 percent.
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