The American Federation for Children (AFC) recently released its third annual poll on school choice. The national poll surveyed just over 1,000 likely voters early this January via phone calls.
To determine general support and opposition, AFC posed the following question: “Generally speaking, would you say you favor or oppose the concept of school choice? School choice gives parents the right to use the tax dollars associated with their child’s education to send their child to the public or private school which better serves their needs.” By and large, the findings indicate broad support for school choice—68 percent of those surveyed support school choice compared to 28 percent who oppose it. These results are similar to previous years: 69 and 70 percent of likely voters who expressed support for school choice in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
In addition to overall percentages, AFC broke out the survey numbers by specific demographic groups. Seventy-five percent of Latinos and 72 percent of African Americans support school choice compared to 65 percent of Whites. In terms of political affiliation, 84 percent of Republicans support school choice (up slightly from 80 percent in 2016), compared to 55 percent of Democrats (down from 65 percent in 2016); 67 percent of Independents voiced support for choice. Of the four generations surveyed, Millennials had the highest level of support for choice with 75 percent.
The AFC survey also finds that seven types of choice gain majority support. They include: special needs scholarships (83 percent support), public charter schools (74 percent support), scholarship tax credit programs (73 percent support), education savings accounts (69 percent support), opportunity scholarships (58 percent support), virtual learning (59 percent support), and school vouchers (51 percent support).
Pollsters also questioned respondents on their support for “two potential school choice proposals that may be introduced in Congress.” Seventy-two percent of potential voters expressed support for a federal scholarship tax credit, and 51 percent of voters supported Trump’s proposal of a $20 billion school choice program.
It’s worth noting that the way pollsters ask questions matters. While the report did mention wording for a few questions, the majority of questions aren’t provided. Nevertheless, other national polls find similar levels of support for school choice.
SOURCE: “2017 National School Choice Poll,” American Federation for Children (January 2017).
