Poll shows strong support for public schools

A recent poll of Montana voters shows strong support for K-12 public education on a wide range of issues.

The Montana Public Education Center released the poll results on Sept. 2. The poll was conducted by Zogby Analytics using industry-standard methodologies with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percent.

The Montana Public Education Center is a joint initiative of the Montana Association of School Business Officials, MEA-MFT (the Montana Education Association and Montana Federation of Teachers union), Montana Rural Education Association, Montana School Boards Association, Montana Quality Education Coalition and School Administrators of Montana.

Among the results:

• When asked to grade their local community public schools, 66.5 percent of Montana voters would give their local schools an A or B rating.

• When asked whether K-12 public education should be well rounded or focus on the basics, 88.8 percent identified a preference for a well-rounded public education — including gifted and talented, music, art and physical education, technology and advanced placement courses for Montana students.

• When asked to identify the highest priority among state budget priorities, K-12 public education was mentioned more frequently (54.2 percent) than any other spending priority.

• When asked to identify whom they trust most to decide what is best academically for students in Montana public schools, voters ranked teachers (39.6 percent) and locally elected school boards (27.1 percent) and school superintendents (9.4 percent) highest and the U.S. Department of Education (1.6 percent), and the Montana Legislature and governor (both at 0.4 percent) the lowest.

• Voters oppose giving tax benefits for tuition at parochial schools by a 54 percent to 41.2 percent margin. The margin of opposition to tax benefits for tuition at private schools was even more pronounced when queried for private schools without community-elected school boards (opposed by 66.6 percent to 30 percent) and private schools not subject to open meeting, public document and public participation laws (opposed by 73.6 percent to 21.1 percent).

• A high percentage identified constitutional guarantees under Article X of the Montana Constitution as either “very” or “somewhat” important to them. Highest marks were given by voters to the guarantees of adequate and equitable funding by the legislature (93.5 percent), supervision and control by elected school boards (90.9 percent) and general supervision and development of educational standards by the Board of Public Education (85.3 percent).

• When asked whether mandates imposed by Congress and the legislature are too burdensome, too lenient or about right, 57.4 percent chose “too burdensome.” Voters also identified a strong preference for allocating teachers’ and administrators’ time on instruction of students, keeping the public informed and interacting with parents over complying with state and federal mandates.

For full polling results, including related charts and graphs, visit online at www.mt-pec.org.