Civitas Releases Poll on Education Issues

March 7, 2013
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Robert Luebke (919) 834-2099
Robert.Luebke@NCCivitas.org

RALEIGH – A new poll by the Civitas Institute includes a number of questions which reflect voter attitudes on school choice, Common Core State Standards and ways to improve education.

Almost two-thirds (65 percent) of voters support the idea of providing scholarship grants of up to $4,200 per year to help families pay tuition, fees books or other educational expenses. Twenty-eight percent of respondents oppose the grants.

Support for the scholarship grant was consistently strong (50 percent or more) across all regions, gender, age groups, ideology, race, education, employment and party identification.

“The strong poll numbers show that support for school choice crosses geographical boundaries and backgrounds,” Robert Luebke, Senior Policy Analyst for the Civitas Institute said. ”The simple fact is parents want to determine where their children attend school and parents want expanded educational opportunities for their children.  The legislature should consider these results and work to expand options for all.”

Other poll results include:

• 48 percent of respondents said they would select a school other than a public school to obtain the best education for their child. Selected options include: Private Schools – 26%; Charter Schools – 14%; Home School – 6%; Virtual School – 1% and Other —  1%
• In addition to the support for scholarship grants, a plurality of voters (46% to 42%) favor school vouchers to allow parents to use tax dollars to find the best school that fits their child.
• Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) of respondents said they were “not very aware” or “completely unaware” of Common Core State Standards and their impact on the classroom.

“The results give school choice supporters something to cheer about.”  Luebke said, “However, the public’s lack of familiarity with Common Core Standards and their impact is troubling. Let’s hope that’s an issue that parents and policymakers can devote more attention to in the months ahead.”

Text of questions*:

1. If it was your decision and you could select any type of school, what type of school would you select in order to obtain the best education for your child?

   3/12     2/13

   35%     49%     Public School
   32%     26%     Private School
   7%       6%       Home School
   16%     14%     Charter School
   —         1%       Virtual School
   1%       1%       Other
   8%       3%       Don’t Know
   1%       —         Refused

2. North Carolina public schools are implementing a new curriculum called “Common Core State Standards” in every classroom. How aware are you of this curriculum?  Would you say you are …

   32%    Total Aware
   68%    Total Not Aware

   11%     Very aware
   20%     Somewhat aware
   24%     Not very aware
   44%     Completely unaware
   1%       Don’t Know

3. Common Core State Standards have now been adopted by 46 states including North Carolina.  The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a Washington DC-based initiative whose goals are to bring diverse state education curricula into alignment with each other, so students in public schools in different places like New York City, Jackson, Mississippi or Los Angeles, California will study the same curriculum.  Do you favor or oppose common core standards?

   59%    Total  Favor
   30%    Total Oppose

   30%     Strongly Favor
   29%     Somewhat Favor
   11%     Somewhat Oppose
   20%     Strongly Oppose
   11%     Undecided/Don’t Know

4. Please tell me which opinion comes closer to your own…

   49%     Supporters of  Common Core State Standards say that these standards will help improve academic standards and will better prepare students for a global economy.

   34%     Critics of Common Core State Standards say that these standards will not be helpful since there is no evidence to justify a single curriculum for all students and will force states to adopt an unproven one-size-fits-all model of public education.

   16%     Don’t Know
   1%       Refused

5. And still thinking about Common Core State Standards, please tell me which opinion comes closer to your own…

   44%     (Some/Other) people say that Common Core State Standards will move public education toward a national curriculum.  They say that centralizing control  of curriculum will result in improved academic performance and allow government to better track and monitor educational problems and progress.

   37%     (Other/Some) people say that Common Core State Standards will transfer control of public education from the states to unelected officials in the federal government and will cost millions to implement because of testing requirements and unfunded mandates.

   18%     Don’t Know
   1%       Refused

6. If you were in charge of the North Carolina budget and had to decide how best to spend taxpayer dollars, would you choose to expand Pre-K education, to birth through 4-year-olds, or to improve existing K-12 education?

   24%    Total Expanding Pre-K
   72%    Total Improving K-12

   17%     Definitely expanding Pre-K
   6%       Probably expanding Pre-K
   12%     Probably improving K-12
   59%     Definitely improving K-12
   4%       Don’t Know

7. If you were in charge of the North Carolina State budget and had money to improve K-12 education in JUST one important area, from the below list how would you spend the money?

   41%     Encourage improved teacher quality by rewarding high performing teachers and improving starting salaries for teachers and mid-career professionals who want to teach.

   15%     Implement additional technology in the classroom and technology training for teachers.

   17%     Allocate a portion of the state per-student appropriation to each child and allow parents to determine where their child attends school. The money would follow the child so all schools must compete for students.

   9%       Provide money to expand enrollment in North Carolina 1-4 year old education programs to more children.

   9%       Expand North Carolina Virtual Public school on-line offerings to meet growing demand. Provide more staff to expand opportunities for blended learning involving in classroom and on-line learning.

   8%       Don’t Know

8. (For those who had a preference to the above question))

   And what would be your second choice?

   21%     Encourage improved teacher quality by rewarding high performing teachers and improving starting salaries for teachers and mid-career professionals who want to teach.

   26%     Implement additional technology in the classroom and technology training for teachers.

   14%     Allocate a portion of the state per-student appropriation to each child and allow parents to determine where their child attends school. The money would follow the child so all schools must compete for students.

   12%     Provide money to expand enrollment in North Carolina 1-4 year old education programs to more children.

   15%     Expand North Carolina Virtual Public school on-line offerings to meet growing demand. Provide more staff to expand opportunities for blended learning involving in classroom and on-line learning.

   10%     Don’t Know
   1%       Refused

   COMBINED CHOICES(for the above questions)

   60%     Encourage improved teacher quality by rewarding high performing teachers and improving starting salaries for teachers and mid career professionals who want to teach.

   39%     Implement additional technology in the classroom and technology training for teachers.

   30%     Allocate a portion of the state per-student appropriation to each child and allow parents to determine where their child attends school. The money would follow the child so all schools must compete for students.

   20%     Provide money to expand enrollment in North Carolina 1-4 year old education programs to more children.

   23%     Expand North Carolina Virtual Public school on-line offerings to meet growing demand. Provide more staff to expand opportunities for blended learning involving in classroom and on-line learning.

   18%     Don’t Know
   2%       Refused

9. Charter schools are public alternatives to traditional public schools. Currently charter schools receive no money for school buildings or athletic facilities. Would you favor or oppose a proposal to allow counties to voluntarily provide county funds for charter school facility costs?

   53%    Total  Favor
   41%    Total Oppose

   26%     Strongly Favor
   27%     Somewhat Favor
   11%     Somewhat Oppose
   29%     Strongly Oppose
   6%       Undecided/Don’t Know
   —         Refused

10. An “Education Savings Account,” often called an ESA, allows parents to withdraw their child from a public school and receive a portion of the state per pupil funding into a state authorized account. Parents control the account and can use the money to pay for tuition, tutoring, books or a variety of approved educational expenses.  In general do you favor or oppose ESAs?

    44%    Total  Favor
    46%    Total Oppose

    27%     Strongly Favor
    17%     Somewhat Favor
    12%     Somewhat Oppose
    34%     Strongly Oppose
    10%     Undecided/Don’t Know
    —         Refused

11. Do you believe Education Savings Accounts should be …

    20%     Limited to low income families, or children in failing schools ONLY
    59%     Available to all families
    16%     Not available to anyone
    5%       Don’t Know

12. School vouchers are based on the premise that funding should flow not to the school but follow the child.  School vouchers allow parents to use tax dollars to pick the best school, even if it is a private school that fits their child.  Do you favor or oppose the use of vouchers?

    46%    Total  Favor
    42%    Total Oppose

    28%     Strongly Favor
    18%     Somewhat Favor
    10%     Somewhat Oppose
    32%     Strongly Oppose
    10%     Undecided/Don’t Know
    1%       Refused

13. Currently many families with limited incomes are unable to provide quality educational opportunities for their children. Would you favor or oppose the state providing scholarship grants of up to $4,200 to per year to help families pay tuition, fees, books or other educational expenses at an appropriate school?

    65%    Total  Favor
    28%    Total Oppose

    39%     Strongly Favor
    26%     Somewhat Favor
    9%       Somewhat Oppose
    19%     Strongly Oppose
    7%       Undecided/Don’t Know
    1%       Refused

*Because of rounding, percentages may not equal totals.

Click here for crosstabs.

About the Poll:

This poll of 600 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted Feb 21, 24 and 25, 2013 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered 2012 general election voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2010, 2012) or be newly registered to vote since November 3, 2012.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.”

For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at (919) 834-2099.