*************************************
From USA Today, Thursday, August 23, 2001, p. 1 A See
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010823/3568998s.htm
*************************************
Poll: Vouchers lose support, but public schools gain. Most choose
path of reform
By Tamara Henry
WASHINGTON -- Support for vouchers is waning across the USA while the approval rating of public schools is at an all-time high, according to a Gallup poll out Wednesday.
The poll, an annual survey for the Phi Delta Kappa professional education fraternity, shows that 51% of U.S. adults give either grade A or B to the schools in their community. It's the first time in the 33-year history of the poll that a majority of the public has given grades this high, and it is an 11% increase since 1990, poll director Lowell Rose said.
WASHINGTON -- Support for vouchers is waning across the USA while the approval rating of public schools is at an all-time high, according to a Gallup poll out Wednesday.
The poll, an annual survey for the Phi Delta Kappa professional education fraternity, shows that 51% of U.S. adults give either grade A or B to the schools in their community. It's the first time in the 33-year history of the poll that a majority of the public has given grades this high, and it is an 11% increase since 1990, poll director Lowell Rose said.
At the same time, support for the controversial voucher program,
which uses public money to underwrite the cost of students attending
private schools, continues its downward slide. Though 44% favored the
idea in 1997 and '98, the percentage dropped to 39% in 2000 and 34% in
2001. Instead of vouchers, 72% of Americans favor reform of the
existing system, up from 59% in 2000.
The high approval rating "should take the wind out of the
sails of opponents of public schools," says Sandra Feldman,
president of the American Federation of Teachers.
"These results also send a clear message to supporters of
unproven and highly questionable privatization schemes."
But Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform, questions the validity of the poll. She criticizes the selectivity of its sampling and takes issue with the tone of the questions about vouchers.
A total of 1,108 adults 18 and older were polled. The margin of
error was +/-4 percentage points. Rose, the poll director, cautioned
that the sampling included only 168 non-whites.
Blacks, strong supporters of vouchers in earlier Gallup polls, now increasingly oppose them: 30% of blacks now like the idea, and 68% are against it. In 1997, 72% of blacks supported vouchers.
Hispanics are more positive: 47% favor vouchers, and 50% oppose them.
The poll comes as Congress is wrapping up its recess and resumes negotiations over a Bush administration education program that omits a voucher idea raised during the presidential campaign.
The poll also shows ambivalence on standardized tests:
* 44% say there is the right amount of such testing, 31% say there is too much testing, and 22% say there's not enough.
* 53% favor the use of a single standardized test to determine promotion from grade to grade; 45% oppose it.
* 57% agree with the idea of using the test to award a high school diploma; 42% oppose it.
******************************************************
--
Jerry P.Becker
Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610 USA
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Curriculum & Instruction
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901-4610 USA
Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O]
(618) 457-8903 [H]
Fax: (618) 453-4244
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
