So here’s a new finding from a leading school choice group that might make some school choice supporters sigh: When it comes to reforms they think will best improve schools, Americans put school vouchers in the middle of the pack.
School vouchers finished behind smaller class sizes, technology and accountability in the survey released Tuesday by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, but ahead of teachers’ unions, merit pay and a longer school day. The report notes respondents made those choices after generally rating public schools between poor and fair.
“The fact that respondents would rate schools so low but still show preference for the structural status quo indicates choice supporters have much work to do to overcome an ideology favorable to the types of the schools the vast majority of Americans attend and to which they send their children,” the report says.
On another interesting note, the report found Americans are more likely to favor private school tax credits and school vouchers for all over vouchers limited to low-income students or students with disabilities. That could mean a re-thinking, the report says, in how some school choice supporters have strategized the adoption of new choice programs.
“The first modern choice programs – in Milwaukee and Cleveland – were limited to urban, low-income families,” the report says. “But if the ultimate goal is universal choice – whether through vouchers or tax-credit scholarships – incrementalism may no longer be a necessary strategy, at least as measured by public support for reasons for choice.”
Like any survey, the latest from Friedman has a lot of nuance and caveats. It also offers a lot of worthy background about similar surveys. Check it out for yourself here. Press release here.
