More Voters Support School Choice

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Maybe that’s why we haven’t heard much about the latest poll results. “Fully 54 percent of all respondents in Education Next’s nationally representative poll favor giving all public-school parents the option of sending their children to private schools with government helping to pay tuition,” Vicki Alger, author and policy analyst with the Independent Institute, writes. “Not only has overall support for universal private-school options increased by 9 percentage points since 2017, bipartisan support has also increased.”

“Among Republicans support increased 10 points since last year to 64 percent. Among Democrats it increased 7 points to 47 percent.”

Yet and still, the biggest surprise is what happens when the poll is broken down by race. “Majorities of Americans also support universal private-school choice regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds, including 53 percent each among black and white Americans, as well as 67 percent of Hispanic Americans,” Alger writes. “The only group with a majority opposed are teachers, whose support dropped from 40 percent last year to 34 percent this year—a stark contrast to the 61 percent of parents who favor universal private-school choice.”

“Compared to support for private-school options for all families, support for wider publicly funded options targeting just some families is 11 points lower at 43 percent.”