Support for school vouchers declining

November 6, 2000

Support for school vouchers declining
___By Jeff Huett
___Baptist Joint Committee
___WASHINGTON (ABP)--Support for school vouchers is waning, with a majority of Americans now opposing the use of public funds to pay tuition at private schools, according to a recent survey.
___Americans believe the biggest problem facing the nation's public schools is inadequate funding, according to poll results. Phi Delta Kappa, a professional education organization, conducted the survey in conjunction with the Gallup Organization, a polling firm based in Princeton, N.J.
___Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they oppose "allowing parents to send their children to a private or church-related school with the government paying all or part of the tuition."
___Meanwhile, 45 percent favor school vouchers, according to the survey. Those figures are reversed from last year's survey, in which 51 percent supported and 47 percent opposed vouchers.
___More than three-fourths (76 percent) said if private or church-related schools accept funds from the government, they should be accountable to the state in the same way as public schools.
___Most respondents remain in favor of reforming the existing school system rather than creating an alternative system. However, the percentage in favor of reforming public schools slipped from 71 percent in 1999 to 59 percent this year.
___When asked to choose between "improving and strengthening the existing public schools or providing vouchers for parents to use in selecting and paying for private and/or church-related schools," 75 percent of respondents said they would rather improve public schools.
___"The respondents to both questions this year make it clear that a majority of the public expects improvement in student achievement to come through the public schools," Lowell Rose and Alec Gallup wrote in a summary of the 32nd annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll.

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