WASHINGTON—Support for school vouchers is waning, with a majority of Americans now opposing the use of public funds to pay tuition at private schools, according to a recent survey.
Americans believe the biggest problem facing the nation’s public schools is inadequate funding, according to poll results released Aug. 21. Phi Delta Kappa, a professional education organization, conducted the survey in conjunction with the Gallup Organization, a polling firm based in Princeton, NJ.
Fifty-two percent of those surveyed said they oppose “allowing parents to send their children to a private, or church-related school with the government paying all or part of the tuition.” Meanwhile, 45 percent favor school vouchers, according to the survey. Those figures are reversed from last year’s survey, in which 51 percent supported and 47 percent opposed vouchers.
More than three-fourths (76 percent) said if private or church-related schools accept funds from the government, they should be accountable to the state in the same way as public schools.
Most respondents remain in favor of reforming the existing school system rather than creating an alternative system. However, the percentage in favor of reforming public schools slipped from 71 percent in 1999 to 59 percent this year.
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