Survey Finds Bipartisan Support For Public Schools, Wide Gaps On LGBTQ, Race Issues In Education
From Forbes.com
Republicans and Democrats would much rather spend tax dollars on public education than private school vouchers. But when it comes to what should go on inside those public schools, there are some vast differences between the two parties.
A new survey from the University of Southern California, Dornsife CESR Center for Applied Research in Education, offers findings that challenge the basis for some school choice policies, but also reveal huge differences between parties when it comes to LGBTQ issues in schools. The survey provides more detail and nuance than can be covered here, but here are some of the highlights.
Surveys have posed questions about school choice in a variety of ways, but the USC survey offers a simple choice between “money should go to public schools to improve them” or “money should go to low-income families so they can pay for private school.” 85% of Democrats supported the public school option; so did 67% of Republicans. 16% of Republicans favored the private school option, and only 6% of Democrats agreed (the remainder fell into the “unsure” category. Breaking down responses further, the survey found that breaking down responses by income showed little difference there (the under $25K category was slightly more favorable toward the private option).
That choice is essentially the choice between supporting public schools or financing school vouchers, a policy that GOP lawmakers have implemented or expanded in around a dozen states in the last several years, often arguing that there is great public support for them. But no voucher program has ever survived a popular vote by taxpayers. Illinois this year became the first state to roll back a voucher program, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott has been unsuccessful in selling his own voucher program. This survey shows that support for the basic concept of school vouchers is far more shallow than advocates argue.