PRESS RELEASE

SACRAMENTO, CA - A poll commissioned this spring for the California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC) found that voters place a high priority on education but they also express a strong dissatisfaction with the current state of public schools, a strong demand for greater public school choice, a solid mandate for more local control and an overwhelming willingness to see our public schools embrace competition.

The poll of 650 registered California voters, conducted by the respected firm Fairbanks, Maslin, Maullin & Associates found that widespread support for these positions crossed party, ideological, ethnic and geographic boundaries. Some major findings include:

• California voters want major reform. When asked to assess California's public schools, only four percent of voters think that our public schools are fine and no reform is needed, compared to 56 percent of voters that think the system either needs major reform (42%) or a total overhaul (14%). Nearly three-quarters (73%) believe that "kids graduating without the necessary skills" is an extremely or very serious problem in California's public schools.
  
  
• Californian voters want more public school choice. By a margin of over 2 to 1, voters think that public education will be best reformed by giving parents the freedom to choose a public school that is best suited to the needs of their children (56%) over giving the Governor and state legislature more support to implement reforms from Sacramento (21%). When told that if a regular public school is not working for a child, then parents can choose to enroll them in a charter school, 73 percent have a more favorable opinion of charter schools, vs. only eight percent that see this as a negative.
  
  
• Californian voters believe that competition will improve our schools. By a 4-1 margin, Californians think that if public schools compete for our children, then the overall system would improve (61%) rather than decline (15%).
  
  
• California voters believe in flexibility and local control. 90 percent of voters believe that teachers deserve more flexibility to design and deliver programs that work best for their students. Voters also have faith in local communities to determine and set curriculum. 58 percent of voters think that local communities should be determining and setting curriculum, vs. 36 percent that see the state as better equipped to do this.
  
  

In reference to ethnicity, minority voters have distinctly different thoughts on the current state of public schools, as well as methods of reform, compared to their white counterparts.

• African-American voters express the most pressing desire for major reform. 63 percent of African-American voters believe that major reform is needed (44%) or that the system requires a total overhaul (19%).
  
  
• With respect to more choices for parents, African-American (71%) and Latino (82%) voters ranked more choices for parents within public education as extremely important or very important, compared to their white counterparts (65%).
  
  
• With respect to more teacher flexibility, African-American (91%) and Latino (79%) voters were more likely to rank this as extremely important or very important, compared to their white counterparts (69%).
  
  
• With respect to requiring schools to compete for children, 73 percent of African-American voters and 69 percent of Latino voters believe that if schools compete for children, then the entire system would improve. This is a higher level of support than for their white counterparts, at 58 percent.

In terms of future policy considerations, California voters place a high level of trust with community colleges and universities to oversee public schools. According to the poll, 69 percent of voters trust community colleges and universities a great deal (28%) or a fair amount (41%) to oversee public schools. Many states, including New York and Michigan, use institutions of higher education as their main authorizer of charter schools.

Currently, not all voters are familiar with charter schools and how they function. When they are provided with a brief description of charter schools, however, support for these public schools is overwhelming, with nearly three-quarters (72%) indicating they support charter schools, only 13 percent opposing them and the remaining 15 percent are unsure.

"The more Californians know about charter schools, they more they believe they are the best way to improve opportunities for children across the state," said Sue Bragato, Executive Director of CANEC. "Voters, especially those in our most under-served communities, continue to demand choice for parents, a healthy sense of competition amongst schools for our children and strong local control for teachers and the families they serve as ways to improve public education."

Download the entire questionnaire >>>

About CANEC
The California Network of Educational Charters (CANEC) is California's premier charter school networking and service organization and is the public voice of its members for the charter school movement in California. CANEC represents its members through networking, advocacy and public awareness.

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