Annual Survey Shows Surge In Support For Educational Choice

Release of the annual Education Next poll shows significant jumps in support for educational choice. Looking at the consistently worded questions over the years, the 2018 poll showed:

• Support for publicly-funded scholarships to private schools, also known as vouchers, increased from 45 percent last year to 54 percent this year. And 61 percent of parents support this policy, up from 52 percent last year.
• Support for tax credit scholarships to private schools increased from 55 percent to 57 percent.
• Support for charter schools increased from 39 percent to 44 percent.
• Notably, opposition to vouchers has decreased 13 percentage points since 2016, from 44 percent to 31 percent today. (Education Next‘s Paul Peterson noted last year that the PDK organization’s surveys also showed a similar dramatic decrease in the opposition to vouchers: an 18 percentage point decrease over a four year timeframe).
• Hispanic support for vouchers increased dramatically, from 49 percent support last year to 67 percent this year. AFC’s National School Choice Poll from January 2018 showed similar results with 72 percent of Hispanics supporting school choice.

Statement from John Schilling, President of the American Federation for Children:

“Today’s survey results from Education Next confirm that families across the country increasingly want more options for their children’s K-12 education. The dominant forms of educational choice from charter schools, to tax credit scholarships and vouchers, all saw gains in support. Those of us working to expand educational choice have always known of the strong support among families, and it’s encouraging to see survey after survey confirm this reality. We urge policymakers at the state and federal levels to take note of this strong support and to take action to give all families the freedom to choose the best K-12 education for their children.”