The 30th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools |
IMPROVING THE NATION'S INNER-CITY SCHOOLS
There is much evidence to indicate that problems relating to the public schools are concentrated in the inner cities of our urban areas and in poor rural areas. While most respondents to the 1998 survey give their own schools high marks, they assign much lower grades to the nation's schools. There is every reason to suspect that the schools in the nation to which they are assigning low grades are those in the inner cities. It is not unusual for these schools to be housed in old, dilapidated buildings and to be staffed by a higher proportion of teachers who are new or lack proper credentials. In addition, teachers in these schools are likely to be short of books and other teaching materials.
Two of the questions in this poll were designed to determine whether the public is aware of the need to improve the inner-city schools and whether it has the will to do something about it. The first question asked how important respondents think it is to improve these schools. The results have to be regarded as encouraging. Eighty-six percent indicate it is very important to do so. Adding in the 10% who say the task is fairly important brings the total to 96%. This response is uniform and consistent among all demographic groups.
Moreover, support for improving the nation's inner-city schools has trended upward since 1989, when 74% thought it very important to do so. In 1993 that figure rose to 81%.
The second question asked about the public's willingness to pay more taxes to improve inner-city schools. Approximately two-thirds (66%) indicate a willingness to do so. This expressed willingness is especially high among nonwhites (79%), Democrats (74%), those between the ages of 50 and 64 (78%), and manual laborers (73%). No group indicates an unwillingness to pay taxes for this purpose.
The first question:
How important do you think it is to improve the nation's inner-city schools? Would you say very important, fairly important, not very important, or not important at all?
| National Totals |
No Children In School |
Public School Parents |
Nonpublic School Parents | |||||||||
| '98 | '93 | '89 | '98 | '93 | '89 | '98 | '93 | '89 | '98 | '93 | '89 | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Very important | 86 | 81 | 74 | 86 | 80 | 71 | 86 | 81 | 83 | 100 | 79 | 83 |
| Fairly important | 10 | 15 | 19 | 9 | 15 | 21 | 11 | 16 | 14 | | 13 | 14 |
| Not very important | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | * | | 3 | 1 |
| Not important at all | 1 | 1 | * | 1 | 1 | * | * | * | * | | 4 | * |
| Don't know | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | | 1 | 2 |
| *Less than one-half of 1%. | ||||||||||||
The second question:
Would you be willing or unwilling to pay more taxes to provide funds to improve the quality of the nation's inner-city public schools?
| National Totals |
No Children In School |
Public School Parents |
Nonpublic School Parents | |||||
| '98 | '93 | '98 | '93 | '98 | '93 | '98 | '93 | |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % | % | |
| Willing | 66 | 60 | 69 | 59 | 64 | 62 | 52 | 52 |
| Unwilling | 30 | 38 | 26 | 38 | 34 | 37 | 46 | 47 |
| Don't know | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
TOPICS:
Introduction to the Poll
Public Versus Nonpublic Schools
Grading the Schools
Effectiveness of Public Schools
Improving the Nation's Inner-City Schools
Politics and the Public Schools
Problems Facing the Public Schools
School Operation/Curriculum
Impact of Unions
The Public's Knowledge of Local Schools
Confidence in Institutions
Closing Comments
How to Order the Poll
Research Procedure
Sampling Tolerances
Design and Composition of the Sample
Conducting Your Own Poll
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