Public supports schools
04/13/04 -- A new national poll released April 1 by the Public Education Network (PEN) finds the public more committed to education than ever.
PEN President and CEO Wendy Puriefoy and Celinda Lake, president of Lake Snell Perry & Associates, which conducted the study for PEN and Education Week, offered a preview of the results at the NSBA Conference.
According to the report, Learn. Vote. Act: The Public's Responsibility for Public Education, nearly 60 percent of Americans say they are more likely to vote for a presidential candidate with public education as the centerpiece of his administration.
Fifty-nine percent of the 800 voters polled would increase their own taxes to support the schools, Lake says, even though two-thirds believe their taxes are already going up.
The report finds declining public support for the No Child Left Behind Act. "The more you know about NCLB, the less likely you are to be in favor of it," Lake says.
About two-thirds of voters have heard of NCLB, compared to a little more than half of voters last year. But while 8 percent of voters opposed the law last year, 28 percent oppose it today.
Seventy-five percent of respondents do not want funding sanctions placed on schools that don't make adequate yearly progress. "People think it is absolutely wrong to label schools failures or withdraw support from failing schools," Lake says.
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