Poll: NC Parents Want More School Choices

A new Civitas poll finds that overall, parents want to be able to choose the education that they believe is the best fit for their children. A strong majority of participants, 62 percent, say that if they could, they would enroll their child in a private, charter, magnet, or home school.

“Our poll results tell us the same thing we’ve been hearing for years: parents want more choice in education,” says Civitas Education Police Analyst Dr. Robert Luebke. “They want to be able to choose where their children attend school. When 62 percent of parents say – if they could – they wound enroll their child in a private, charter, magnet or home school, this means many families are not happy with the current educational options.”

Civitas-Poll-Image-FIThe poll also shows that 63 percent agree that parents should be empowered to make the best education choices for their children via Education Savings Accounts.   An overwhelming 87 percent of those polled agree that “Parents have the right to choose a school for their child that will best meet their child’s educational needs and supports their values.”

When asked specifically what type of school a parent would select in order to obtain the best education for their child, 32% said a traditional public school, 28% a private school, 7% home school, 17% public charter, 10% magnet school, and 1% virtual charter.      

Asked to give NC public schools a letter grade from A to F, 5% gave schools an A, 21% B, 43% C, 15% D, 9% F. 

The poll has a 4 percent margin of error.