Results from the2015 Schooling in America Survey

edchoice.org/nationalsurvey2015

American Enterprise InstituteWashington, DCJune 30, 2015

Paul DiPerna

Survey ProfileData Collection: Braun Research, Inc.

Interview Dates: April 22 to May 12, 2015

Interview Method: Live Telephone | 60% landline, 40% cell phone

Interview Length: 17.5 minutes (average)

Sampling Method: Dual Frame; Probability Sampling; RDD

Population Sample: National / General Population (Adults, Age 18+)

Sample Size: N = 1,002

Margin of Error: ± 3.1 percentage points

Response Rates: Landline (LL) = 13.5%Cell Phone = 13.5%

Weighting? Yes (LL/Cell, Age, Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Region)

Oversampling? Yes (Latinos)*

Survey Profile

Population Sample: National / General Population (Adults, Age 18+)

Sample Size: N = 1,002

Margin of Error: ± 3.1 percentage points

Observing, and making comparisons based on, the following metrics…

~ Levels

~ Margins (i.e. differences, gaps)

~ Intensities (strong positive – strong negative)

Limitations/Caveats

• This is exploratory/descriptive reporting; no suggestions of causation

• Relatively few data points for trend lines

• Some volatility and/or less reliability among subgroup results (smaller n’s)

• Challenges of potential confirmation bias with any issue-oriented surveys

General Findings

• Americans continue to be negative about the direction of K-12 education in the country; even more so about the federal government’s performance

• Wide gaps between expressed schooling preferences and actual school enrollment patterns

• School choice reforms (vouchers, ESAs, tax-credit scholarships) have large margins of support (=>< 2014)

• Majority favors charter schools as well, but support (surprisingly) has dipped since last year (< 2014)

• Mixed messages persist on Common Core; context boosts level of support; intensity is still in the negative direction with/without context (= 2014)

• Pluralities (esp. school parents) say there is too much time spent on standardized testing (> 2014)

Topics

• Direction of K-12 Education in U.S.• Rating Federal Involvement

• School Type Preference, and Why

• School Choice Reforms (Vouchers, ESAs, Tax-Credit Scholarships, Charter

Schools)

• Common Core• Standardized Testing• State Intervention in Schools

Direction of K-12 Education

Rating Federal Involvement

School Type Preference

Why?

Top reasons offered by school parents for choosing a specific school type:

17% BETTER EDUCATION / QUALITY

14% INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION / ONE-ON-ONE

12% BETTER TEACHERS / TEACHERS / TEACHING

10% ACADEMICS / CURRICULUM

10% CLASS SIZE / STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO

What is public opinion on a range of school choice types?

• Charter schools• ESAs• School vouchers• Tax-credit scholarships

Public Opinion on School Choice

by level of support

62% ESAs61% Vouchers60% Tax-Credit Scholarships53% Charter Schools

by level of opposition

33% Vouchers29% Tax-Credit Scholarships28% ESAs27% Charter Schools

Public Opinion on School Choice

by margin

+34 ESAs+31 Tax-Credit Scholarships+28 Vouchers+26 Charter Schools

by net intensity

+16 ESAs+13 Vouchers+12 Tax-Credit Scholarships+10 Charter Schools

Demographic findings (on choice) that stand out- The two subgroups (relatively) the least likely to support school

choice, and most likely to oppose, are: seniors and Democrats/Leaners

- Conversely, the subgroups that appear to be the most reliable proponents of school choice are: school parents, young adults, low-income earners, and Republicans/Leaners

- Suburbanites are actually more supportive of vouchers than urbanites (flies in the face of conventional wisdom in choice politics)

- Republicans and Independents align on charters, vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships, significantly higher support than Democrats

- Republicans, Independents, and Democrats all support ESAs about the same – no significant differences

- When it comes to state intervention in low-performing schools, Democrats are significantly more likely to cite school choice as a remedy than Republicans

Common Core

Standardized Testing

Intervention in Schools

Specific findings that stand out- Increase in support of ESAs (56% in ‘14 to 62% in ‘15)

- Drop in support of charter schools (61% in ‘14 to 53% in ‘15)

- If the state intervenes in a low-performing school, the remedy cited most often (41%) as useful to families was “supplying vouchers/scholarships/ESAs” to students

- Public opinion on Common Core remains mixed

- Net intensities on choice questions are positive, but negative on the Common Core questions

- 4 out of 10 respondents (42%) said amount of time spent on testing is “too high”; even higher among school parents (47%)

- Almost 4 of 5 (77%) give “fair” or “poor” ratings toward federal involvement in K-12 matters (NCLB reauthorization discussions should whip up next month)

Thank You

Paul DiPernapaul@edchoice.org

Full report and section files are available at

edchoice.org/nationalsurvey2015

About the Friedman Foundation

edchoice.org

• Est. in 1996 by Milton & Rose Friedman• Based in Indianapolis, IN• 501(c)(3) / Nonpartisan / Nonprofit• Annual Activities/Services in 30+ states

• What do we do?

Research, Data Collection & Analysis Legislator Education, Advocate Education Partnerships/Coalitions, Government Relations

What we mean by “school choice”

• Public education funding should follow the student to whichever school – public or private – that family feels is best to meet the child’s needs and priorities.

• Separate the public education funding mechanism from the administration and operation of schools, and minimize the inherent conflict of interest in such arrangements.

Types of School Choice Programs

• Vouchers – funds typically expended by the state and/or school district would be allocated to a participating family in the form of a voucher to pay partial or full tuition for their child’s private school, including both religious and non-religious options.

• Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) – allow parents to take their child out of a public school and receive a deposit of public funds into government-authorized savings accounts that can apply toward private school tuition/fees, tutoring, online education programs, special needs therapies, or save for future college expenses.

• Tax-Credit Scholarships – eligible individual/corporate taxpayers can receive full or partial tax credits when they donate to nonprofits that provide private school scholarships.

Compare with other national surveys

EdNext-PEPG/KN (2007 to 2014)Public Support for Low-Income Vouchers

PDK/Gallup (1970 to 2014)Public Support for [Vouchers]

“Classics”