When it comes to education in America, we’re more alike than different, according to The Education Roadtrip: A Survey of 6,400 Americans Across 8 Regions, a new poll from our friends at 50CAN. (We found something similar in our recent What Parents Want study.) In this poll, consensus abounds on school choice, educational technology, and holding school staff accountable; regional differences are slim to non-existent. Among the interesting tidbits: A whopping 80 percent of those polled do not trust the denizens of Washington, D.C. to determine what is best for improving schools. The Mountain States are most skeptical with 85 percent distrusting the nation’s capital. The poll also found that Americans have no problem grading their state’s public schools: 41 percent gave them “C” grades and 32 percent gave them B’s. 50CAN calls this a “case of the blahs.” Finally, when respondents were asked to give a gold medal to the best education system in their region, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington State heard their state anthems. Why these states? We don’t have a clue, but we expect to hear this mentioned in some State of the State addresses next year.
50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now, "National Survey Results." (February 2014)
