Survey Gauges Public Views on Education Funding, Policy -- July 1, 2004 -- California Capitol Hill Bulletin -- Volume 11, Bulletin 22

On Wednesday, July 30, the Educational Testing Service (ETS) released their Fourth Annual ETS Hart-Teeter Survey, Equity and Adequacy: Americans Speak on Public Funding, conducted by Peter D Hart Research Associates & Coldwater Corporation. At the event, Leslie C. Francis, ETS Communications Vice President, said the purpose of the survey was to gain perspective on the public's view on school finance - an issue which he said is important "not because it's at the top of the public agenda, but because it isn't."

Researchers surveyed 1,309 adults nationwide between May 25 and June 10, 2004 (including parents, residents in presidential battleground states, and education policy-makers). Focus groups were also conducted in Florida and Ohio in May. Results of the survey reveal that 76 percent of adults believe funding for schools is not used efficiently, 18 percent indicating they believe "quite a lot" of money is wasted, 24 percent saying a "great deal" of money is wasted. Pollster Peter Hart, one of the lead researchers who conducted the study, said that these public views are bipartisan and that although education is still a primary concern for Americans, the public wants to know how education funds are being spent. "Discussion has to be about goals, objectives - what the money means and where it's going," Hart explained.

The survey indicated that people are generally split over the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and how to achieve accountability - 39 percent of adults are favorable to NCLB, 38 percent are not. However, only 16 percent of respondents said they were "very favorable" to NCLB compared to 23 percent who said they were "very unfavorable." According to the survey, the public generally agreed that the state should play a larger role in education. Although respondents were split over whether funding should be distributed equally to students or whether increased funds should be allocated to schools with greater need, 80 percent of adults surveyed felt that the state should be involved in some form in directing funding through one of these two options. Equal numbers of respondents, 55 percent of those surveyed, felt that money for schools in low-income areas and quality of schools in their own area were major concerns. And, although the survey indicated disagreement between respondents regarding how to ensure equity in schools, 65 percent of adults indicated that it is appropriate to allocate tax revenue raised in other areas to schools in low income areas.

Francis said that the survey results tend to show "an information gap between what's going on and what parents know." He said that although responses to the survey do not point to a clear policy direction they highlight areas where the public is ready to engage in discussion.

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