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Critical Analysis of the 46th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools

CER Analysis
August 2014

Informed public opinion happens when there are proper definitions and context in polling. While public knowledge of certain facets of American education like Common Core and charter schools has increased with time, surveys such as America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform that consistently provide context for respondents are better indicators of America’s attitudes because they allow respondents to more fully understand the issues at hand, allowing for more educated judgments.

Unfortunately, the conductors of the PDK/Gallup poll have yet again attempted to curtail the American public’s true perceptions of education issues by using misleading questions and failing to provide proper context to all respondents.

The following is a topical, point-by-point analysis that compares the 46^th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools with other public opinion polling to set the record straight and provide a clearer picture of what Americans truly think about education today.

 

What PDK/Gallup Says on Charter Schools:

⋅ “Fourteen years ago, we wrote the question about charter schools at a time when most Americans were unfamiliar with them. For that reason, we added a descriptor indicating that ‘charter schools operate under a charter or contract that frees them from many of the state regulations imposed on public schools and permits them to operate independently.’”

⋅ “We have become increasingly uncomfortable with this question because we hesitate offering explanations that can bias the response, particularly as more Americans are familiar with charter schools. For this reason, we asked half of the respondents in our random sample the legacy question with the descriptor and the other half of the respondents the more direct question: “Do you favor or op- pose the idea of charter schools?”

⋅ “The percentage supporting public charter schools declined when we removed an explanation of charter schools from the question.

⋅ “Most Americans misunderstand charter schools, believing that they can charge tuition and admit students based on ability, and nearly half believe they can also teach religion. More Americans believe students receive a better education at public charter schools than at other public schools.”

CER Analysis:

It’s clear the PDK/Gallup poll recognizes that when asking, “do you support charter schools?” many respondents are still actually unaware of what charter schools are, as it states in the executive summary that seven of ten Americans support charter schools, particularly when they are given the description of what a charter school is [emphasis added].

However, this charter school descriptor was only included for half of the total number of respondents polled, as the PDK/Gallup poll report admits.

Despite PDK/Gallup’s attempt to diminish results, support for choice grows with knowledge, as other polls like America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform indicate that 73 percent of Americans support charter schools when provided the proper definition.

 

What PDK/Gallup Says on Vouchers:

⋅ “Two-thirds of Americans oppose public school vouchers.”

⋅ “Q: Do you favor or oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense?”
“A:   Favor:    37 percent.    Oppose: 63 percent”

CER Analysis:

We’ve stated for years that rightfully describing school choice programs as “publicly-funded” versus “at public expense” removes the bias that suggests such programs are harmful to the average taxpayers’ pocketbook. The question posed to PDK/Gallup respondents includes this biased qualifier ‘at private expense,’ which feeds into the inaccurate myth that school choice programs drain money from public schools. The reality is that school choice programs can, and do, reduce costs and use public dollars more efficiently.

In fact, a study by researchers Patrick J. Wolf and Michael Q. McShane, published in the peer-reviewed journal Education Finance and Policy in 2013, reveals that the D.C. voucher program offers a 162 percent return on each taxpayer dollar invested in the program.Not only that, but the graduation rate for voucher students is 12 percentage points higher than those not using vouchers.

Again, as with charter schools, despite PDK/Gallup’s attempt to diminish results, support for choice grows with knowledge, as other polls like America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform indicate that 74 percent of Americans support school choice when provided the proper definitions and context.

A 2013 Friedman Foundation poll reveals seven in ten mothers with at least one child in school support school choice tax credits, and two-thirds support education savings accounts. Additional polling from Friedman finds that 61 percent of Americans would opt for a schooling alternative to their child’s traditional school designated by zip code.

 

What PDK/Gallup Says on Testing & Common Core:

⋅ “The oversimplified model based almost exclusively on standardized testing isn’t working, and Americans know that. That’s why it’s losing public support.”

⋅ “Standardized testing can be one of the tools but it cannot be the only form of evaluation.”

⋅ “While most Americans (68%) are skeptical that standardized tests help teachers, they support using them to evaluate student achievement or to guide decisions about student placement, particularly to award college credit such as through Advanced Placement exams.”

⋅ “Most Americans (60%) oppose the Common Core State Standards, fearing that the standards will limit the flexibility of the teachers in their communities to teach what they think is best.”

CER Analysis:

Testing isn’t the only determinant of student results, yet the way the PDK/Gallup poll phrases questions and reports results causes respondents and readers to conjure up images of rote, bubble-filling, multiple-choice exams as if they are the only tests that exist in public education today. Regardless of the type of test, Americans actually DO demand accountability and think our students and schools should be held to high standards.

It’s rare to find an issue that 86 percent of Americans can agree on, but in education, it’s accountability, according to America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform: Public Support for Accountability in Schools.

Overall, CER’s poll reveals that 71 percent of parents would remove their child from a learning environment that was not presenting enough of a challenge and seek out a more rigorous alternative. Sixty-seven percent of adults would choose to go elsewhere in the face of an under-performing school, further validating that parents want accountability and value student performance and high standards.

 

What PDK/Gallup Says on Public School Quality:

⋅ “By far, lack of financial support continues to be the No. 1 challenge facing public schools in America, in response to the question, “What do you think are the biggest problems that the public schools of your community must deal with?”

⋅ “50% of Americans gave the schools in their communities either an A or B, with parents awarding local schools even higher marks.”

⋅ “At the same time, Americans give the nation’s schools significantly lower grades with more than 80% assigning the nation’s schools a C or lower grade; no public school parents gave the nation’s schools an A.”

CER Analysis:

People still believe that more money is the answer to our public education woes. This perception runs up against the reality that public education in the U.S. is a $607 billion dollar industry that produces abysmal math and reading proficiency rates at 35 and 36 percent, respectively, among eighth graders. Meanwhile, research shows that charters are 40 percent more cost-effective in delivering math results on national assessments, and 41 percent more effective in delivering results in reading. Charters deliver results while receiving 36 percent less funding on average than traditional district schools, indicating that “lack of financial support” is not the number one challenge facing public schools, but rather something deeper and more systemic in figuring out how to use public dollars more effectively.

When it comes to opinions on school quality, 41 percent of Americans say their child’s school works ‘completely’ well, 44 percent reported a middling level of satisfaction, and eight percent say their child’s school ‘rarely,’ or ‘never’ works well for their child, according to the 2013 America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform.

While it’s clear from both polls that Americans think their own schools are faring better than their neighbor’s schools, when armed with knowledge and data about schools, opinions change. Over half of adults polled in America’s Attitudes Towards Education Reform would be likely to change schools if their child wasn’t performing well academically, and 67 percent would be likely to change if the school didn’t meet annual measurements and test scores.

 

Conclusion:

For years, The Center for Education Reform has identified deficiencies in how PDK/Gallup presents certain education issues to poll respondents. Thirteen years later, it is time that this widely publicized poll take action to remove bias from questions and provide adequate context to ensure accurate reporting in how the public feels about critical education issues.