The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation
November 2003
Findings from this Fordham-sponsored survey - the fourth survey of Dayton parent/community attitudes toward education since 1988 - present a fascinating array of opinions about today's schools (and those who are responsible for them) and the changes that could be made tomorrow. In particular, more than 70 percent of Dayton-area parents support the idea of allowing students in failing schools to attend other schools of their choice; most urban parents favor education vouchers; and the number of parents who feel that Dayton schools are improving is going up (from 12 percent in the last survey to nearly a quarter this year). There's also strong support for charter schools in this city with a great many of them. For every person who would close them, four would keep or expand them. And, despite the ongoing complaint (from school-system defenders) that charters take money from traditional schools, almost two-thirds of parents say that "tax money is for a child's education, no matter what school he attends." Parents also support the use of standardized testing and think these tests should have consequences. In fact, more than three-quarters of the respondents agreed that getting promoted to the next grade or graduating from high school should depend at least in part on passing state tests. The report is available at the Fordham website at www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=322.
