New ‘civic index’ measures a community’s support for schools

School boards rank in the middle of a “civic index” created by the Public Education Network to measure public support for and involvement in public education. [Community Accountability for Quality Schools is available at www.publiceducation.org.]

The civic index assesses 10 key categories of community support that are considered to be critical factors for sustaining high-quality public schools. Local communities can adopt the index as a benchmark to conduct their own assessments, and eight cities and counties have already done so.

School boards received a ranking of 3.2 on the index, based on a national poll conducted in May that assessed public opinion on how much each of the 10 factors support public school improvement.

The factors receiving higher rankings were tolerance and inclusiveness (3.9), active parents (3.4), and use of data (3.3).

Civic organizations received the lowest ranking (2.8), followed by officeholder leadership (3.0), business involvement (3.0), the media (3.1), higher education (3.1), and youth involvement (3.2).

The Public Education Network’s report on the civic index says education remains a major concern of voters, although it has dropped in importance as the economy has worsened.

Among voters’ top concerns, education ranked third (cited by 12 percent), behind gas prices (22 percent) and jobs/economy (19 percent). Two years ago, voters saw education as the most important issue local leaders needed to address.

In other findings:

• In voting for a president, 38 percent of those polled said education is a “very important” factor, and 10 percent said education is “one of the most important” factors.

• The public is divided about No Child Left Behind. Thirty-one percent of those polled said the law has helped the performance of local public schools, and an equal number said it has hurt.

• Forty percent of Americans believe the quality of public schools has declined nationally, compared to 15 percent who said schools are getting better.

But those polled have a more positive view of schools in their communities: Thirty-two percent believe local schools are getting worse, and 25 percent believe they are improving. 

Reproduced with permission from School Board News. Copyright © 2008, National School Boards Association. Opinions expressed in this newspaper do not necessarily reflect positions of NSBA. This article may be printed out and photocopied for individual or educational use, provided this copyright notice appears on each copy. This article may not be otherwise transmitted or reproduced in print or electronic form without the consent of the Publisher. For more information, call (703) 838-6789.