Polling School Choice

This past Tuesday marked the release of the 38th Annual Phi Delta Kappa (PDK)/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. Unfortunately, for those truth-seekers among us who want to know how Americans really feel, there’s no news here. It’s the same old stuff, with the same leading questions.

But “research” from PDK pollsters continues to serve as media fodder, with news reports proclaiming the decline of public support for vouchers, from 38 percent last year to 36 percent this year. Do Americans truly oppose choice, or are they “set up” to respond negatively? PDK’s wording, “Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?” has been criticized for years as being biased against school choice. Other polls reveal this criticism to be right on the money: a 2005 poll commissioned by the Friedman Foundation asking the similar (but more accurate) question, “Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose any school, public or private, to attend using public funds?” revealed that a whopping 60 percent of Americans supported choice.

PDK also fails to assess attitudes about the range of school choice options in play across the country, like tax credits for students in failing schools or educational alternatives for students with special needs. An editorial in the Washington Times this week concludes, “The truth is school choice and voucher programs are popular with the public, no matter what PDK tells us every year.”

Meanwhile, the choice movement has shaken off this little bit of bad press and is continuing to make inroads in states across the country, even here at home. Yesterday, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) went “online,” with a website that offers resources to the public and reflects the growing support for choice in our state. PEFNC members are a diverse bunch when it comes to political affiliation, ethnicity, and income level. Nevertheless, PEFNC supporters agree on one central issue: parents and children in our state need more educational options. PEFNC is building coalitions statewide, laying the groundwork for a successful choice program here. Even though school choice is first and foremost a family issue, it still rises and falls with the political tides. If choice is ever to become reality in North Carolina, bills must pass in the General Assembly and be signed by the Governor.

Ensuring the safe passage of choice legislation is no small task, nor is it for the faint of heart. The groups I fondly refer to as the Gatekeepers of Mediocrity (GOMs) can and do oppose any kind of meaningful education reform – and these organizations are influential, politically savvy and well-financed to boot. But we are up for the task ahead. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world; indeed it’s the only thing that ever has!”

Fortunately, PEFNC’s numbers are growing daily, raising hopes for a better and brighter educational future for North Carolina’s schoolchildren. If you support choice, please visit PEFNC’s website and join the ever-increasing number of North Carolinians committed to educating others about the benefits of school choice for our state.

In the final analysis, when it comes to choice, here’s what we do know: when schools compete, students win. No poll can change that.

To learn more about school choice in North Carolina as well as the latest education news, visit the Alliance online at www.nceducationalliance.org. Check out the “Headlines” section of our home page, updated daily with articles from every major newspaper in the state. At the Alliance, we are committed to keeping you informed and empowered as we join together to improve education for the children of North Carolina.

Lindalyn Kakadelis is the Director of the North Carolina Education Alliance.