District of Columbia Voters Strongly Oppose Vouchers - NSBA/Zogby Poll Shows
Eighty Percent Also Expect Private Voucher Schools to be Held Publicly Accountable
Alexandria, VA – December 10, 2002 – More than three-fourths of voters in the District of Columbia say they oppose private school vouchers, and 80 percent say they would expect any private school that accepts taxpayer-funded vouchers to be held publicly accountable, according to a new National School Boards Association/Zogby International poll.
The poll reveals D.C. voters' views on an issue that is expected to receive attention in the 108th Congress. Legislation to enact a private school voucher program in the District of Columbia was introduced in the 107th Congress but did not pass.
The poll found that 76 percent of D.C. voters oppose "giving taxpayer-funded vouchers to parents to pay for their children to attend private or religious schools even if that means less money for public school students." Eighty-five (85) percent of African-American voters in D.C. said they opposed vouchers.
The poll also found that 80 percent of D.C. voters believe "that private schools that accept taxpayer-financed vouchers should be required to meet the same public accountability standards as public schools." D.C. voters' expectations of public accountability for the spending of public dollars is especially pertinent given the recently enacted bi-partisan No Child Left Behind Act, which holds all public schools accountable for meeting high standards.
"Voters in Washington, D.C. do not want their education tax dollars deposited in private schools that are not accountable to them," NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant said. "Voucher programs are a U-turn on the road to public accountability for publicly-funded education."
NSBA strongly opposes private school vouchers and other efforts to subsidize private elementary and secondary education with public taxpayer dollars. The National School Boards Association is a national federation of state and territorial school boards associations that represent more than 95,000 school board members who govern the nation's public schools. The organization's mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education throughout the United States through local school board leadership.
Zogby International conducted interviews of 603 D.C. adults, chosen at random, who voted in the November 2002 elections. The interviews were conducted from November 6-15, 2002, and the poll has a margin of error of + / -4.1 percent.