Gallup/PDK Poll on Education
A recently released poll conducted from June 2nd to June 24th shows growing support for education funding. To read the article on the poll, click here. For expert analysis on the poll and the issues at hand, read below:
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A Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll showed increased support for education funding. Before describing the details, the eSchool News article notes how the survey was conducted. It was a random sample of over 1,000 respondents of diverse backgrounds targeted “with an oversample of parents with school-aged children.” One might ask, if the target demographic is parents with kids in school, then wouldn’t they be more prone to support education funding? While this may be true, it was an oversample, not a restriction. The surveyors didn’t ask the respondents if they have children in school and, if not, apologize and hang up the phone. Moreover, some parents send their children to private schools; it would be economically irrational for them to support highly funded public schools. Finally, the poll was not about education funding, it was about education in general. Some of the questions asked respondents to grade their schools. I’ve done phone surveys before; I’ve asked people to rate their public schools. Oftentimes, when they don’t have kids in school they say so and then say that rating their public schools doesn’t apply to them. So oversampling parents with children who are old enough to be in school is probably the best way to go because it will cut down on missing data.
Now that statistical theory is out of the way, let’s turn to the results of the poll. The respondents were asked what they think is the biggest problem facing education. They were not given possible suggestions. The most frequent response was funding (32%), which is the highest it has been years. Additionally, when asked about the top priority for stimulus funds, most respondents said that preventing teachers from being laid off should be the most important. The second most popular response was helping struggling schools. The popularity of education spending in the stimulus bill is great news for members of Congress who support education funding, such as Tim Bishop.
Funding struggling schools is quite similar to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In fact, the new administration requested a large increase in funding for the school improvement Not surprisingly, the poll asked several questions about this policy. The annual poll has shown declining support for NCLB while standardized testing, the policy’s cornerstone, remains popular. While it is possible that opposition to NCLB could be correlated with the continually declining support of former President George W. Bush or a lack of understanding of NCLB (another statistical theory), John Wilson of the National Education Association offers a more compelling explanation: NCLB did not deliver the funding to the schools.
While I haven’t done a statistical analysis to see why people oppose NCLB, Wilson’s argument seems the most rational. Most of the poll’s respondents favored funding education. Merit based pay for teachers was quite popular along with the other funding issues mentioned earlier. Hopefully more funding will reach schools and the public will be happy.
Posted by Sandy Ginsburg
CEF Intern
Cornell University Class of 2011
CEF Summer Recess Packet
Members of Congress will be in their home districts until after Labor Day. Please use CEF’s summer recess packet in your advocacy efforts for increased education funding!
CEF FY 2010 Congressional Funding Comparison Chart
This chart compares the president’s FY 2010 education budget request and the House and Senate funding levels. To view CEF’s comparison chart click here.
