Each year, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama surveys Alabamians’ opinions on the important issues of the day. There is a lot of continuity in the results from year to year, particularly in questions about education and state versus local control of public decisions.
We always ask people to name the most important issue facing the state. Logically enough, jobs and the economy have been No. 1 for the past three years. Before that, it was education. And education has remained in second place throughout the recession.
So the people of Alabama value education, even when their most immediate concern is for jobs and economic improvement. What education issues do they see?
A majority of the people we interviewed this year told us they are satisfied with the quality of the public schools in their community. However, their opinions are evenly divided on the quality of schools statewide.
When we asked what would improve school performance, a majority of those with opinions chose more operating freedom rather than more state supervision. A majority also favored allowing the creation of charter schools.
We asked about proposals for creating jobs that have been mentioned in the news. The people in our survey favored expanding job training programs in Alabama’s community colleges more than tax incentives to attract businesses.
Finally, by an overwhelming margin, our survey respondents wanted to keep education dollars separate in the state budget rather than combine them with funds used for other purposes.
The majority clearly favored local control of schools. It was the same with general government; the preference was nearly 2-to-1 for giving counties more authority rather than leaving them under the control of the state Legislature as they are now.
These opinions were not unanimous; for example, African-Americans and people who live in metropolitan areas tended to favor more state supervision of public schools. Such exceptions point to the fact that some schools and county governments clearly need state oversight. Yet majorities in our survey suggested that the state is not responsive to public opinion and that its budget can be cut without affecting services.
Maybe the survey’s clearest message is that the state should live up to its responsibilities and earn the public’s confidence.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Jim Williams is executive director for the nonprofit, nonpartisan Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. Jim may be contacted at jwwillia@samford.edu.
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