Ohioans' Dissatisfaction With Public Schools Persists
COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new statewide survey of Ohio residents reveals a persistent frustration and dissatisfaction with their local public schools, along with solid support for recent education reforms and a desire to expand education options for Ohio children and their families.
The survey, commissioned by The Thomas B. Fordham Institute and conducted by the respected nonpartisan survey firm, the FDR Group, follows upon a similar poll conducted in 2005, providing insight on whether public attitudes on major education issues have shifted over the past two years. The survey found no major shifts in public opinion on issues such as school quality and funding, academic standards, school improvement proposals, teacher quality, charter schools and private-school vouchers.
"Ohioans are clear-eyed critics of today's schools," said Fordham Institute president Chester E. Finn, Jr. "They're remarkably consistent. They're well-disposed toward promising reforms, including some that the education establishment rejects. And they want more school options for their kids, not fewer."
The telephone survey of 1,000 randomly selected Ohio residents was conducted between April 29 and May 8, 2007. Additional interviews were conducted with residents of five of Ohio's largest cities - Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton and Toledo -- to provide a reliable comparison of their views.
Major findings include the following:
Lingering frustration and dissatisfaction with district public schools exist, particularly in Ohio's big cities, sentiments consistent with voters' rejection of close to 70 percent of all new school operating and capital levies on the ballot earlier this month.
* Forty-three percent of Ohioans believe that a high school diploma from their local public school "is no guarantee that the typical student has learned the basics." For residents of the five large cities, the number is 53 percent.
* Well over half of Ohio parents (57 percent) would opt for private schools or other options "if money were not an issue."
Steady support continues for charter schools and school vouchers -- and there is little support for doing away with either.
* Fifty-two percent of Ohioans favor charter schools, compared to 51 percent in 2005. Support in the five large cities is even higher (59 percent).
* Nearly three in four Ohioans (74 percent) would give public charter schools the same funding and resources as district public schools.
* Just 11 percent of Ohioans think all Buckeye charter schools should be closed; instead, a strong majority (63 percent) would shut down only the worst charters.
* Most Ohio residents (68 percent) would allow new charter schools to open if run by organizations with a proven record of success. Just 15 percent would bar all new charters.
* More than half (57 percent) of Ohioans favor the state's new private-school voucher program, compared to 55 percent in 2005.
* By a 55 to 31 percent margin, state residents see vouchers as "a lifeline for kids who can finally escape failing public schools" rather than something that "will help only a few kids and make things worse for most students who are left behind."
* By a similar margin (55 to 32 percent), Ohioans believe vouchers "will force public schools to get better because they will have to compete" rather than thinking vouchers "will make public schools worse because they will be left with less money and less motivated students."
* Almost 7 in 10 (69 percent) Ohioans oppose Governor Strickland's proposal to eliminate the statewide school voucher program except in Cleveland. Sixty percent say they would expand the voucher program to make all children eligible, not just those in failing schools.
Ohioans are open to a host of reforms in school operations, staffing, management and accountability.
* Two in three (66 percent) favor giving principals "far more freedom to run the schools but terminating their contracts if their schools fail to reach specific goals." Half think that public schools would improve if principals "could choose which teachers work in their buildings and had more say over work rules."
* The vast majority (85 percent) of Ohioans would give schools "more freedom to fire teachers that aren't performing.
* More than three in five (61 percent) Ohioans think teachers' pay "should be based on their performance and how effectively they teach"; just 16 percent think it should be based on "their years of service and the degrees they've earned." However the public is split on the role that student test scores should play in determining teacher effectiveness: Forty-nine percent favor basing it partly on student test scores, while 47 percent oppose the idea.
* Fifty-three percent of Ohioans are in favor of extending the school day or school year. Residents of the five large cities are even more likely to be supportive (62 percent).
The public is split on whether it would support additional school spending.
* Forty-six percent of Ohioans say they would support increased funding for schools while 41 percent would leave funding at current levels. (Nine percent would reduce it.)
* Seventy-one percent think that if Ohio were to spend more money on schools, it "would actually get lost along the way." Just 21 percent believe the money would get to the classroom and improve education.
* Sixty-three percent of Ohioans would favor making the money that Ohio spends on education differ according to children's individual needs and having all of that money follow the child to whatever school he or she attends.
Support for testing and accountability - for both students and schools -- remains strong.
* Eighty-two percent of Ohio residents support requiring 10th-graders to pass subject-area tests before they can graduate, compared to 83 percent in 2005.
* When told that standardized test results are publicized, and that schools that do badly are required to put an improvement plan into action, 63 percent of Ohioans think this is "mostly good because it calls attention to problems that must be addressed."
* By a 57 to 38 percent margin, Ohio residents prefer the idea of a single national standard and tests over different standards and tests in different states.
* Fully 91 percent of Ohioans favor "enforcing strict school rules on discipline regarding how students behave, talk and dress."
There continues to be little understanding of charters and vouchers, despite the considerable attention to these issues at the Statehouse and in media across the state.
* Just 19 percent of Ohio residents say they know a great deal or quite a bit about charter schools. In the five large cities, the number rises to 30 percent.
* Sixty-nine percent of Ohioans say they know little or nothing about Ohio's school voucher program.
Few sizable differences are evident across demographic groups, with the exception of political party identification, where self-described Republican and Democratic residents often differ by percentages that are significantly different.
The complete survey and a compilation of all responses can be viewed and downloaded at [Link].
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is a nonprofit organization that conducts research, issues publications, and directs action projects in elementary/secondary education reform at the national level and in Ohio, with special emphasis on our hometown of Dayton. It is affiliated with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. The Institute is neither connected with nor sponsored by Fordham University.
