Charter schools have experienced a sharp decrease in support

Charter schools have experienced a sharp decrease in support in the past year, according to a new poll, one of the largest changes in opinion that Education Next has seen in 11 years of conducting its annual education policy poll.

Public support for charters decreased from 51 percent in 2016 to 39 percent in 2017, the poll found. Support fell 13 percentage points for Republicans and 11 percentage points for Democrats.

The survey was designed to see if the decline in support for charter schools was related to the Trump administration’s stance on school choice, but the results were counterintuitive: Informing respondents about Trump’s support for school choice also increased support for charters by 6 percentage points.

 

Public disdain for the Common Core has come to a halt after falling for three years, from 65 percent in 2013 to 42 percent in 2016, the poll found. Now, 41 percent support the standards, while 38 percent oppose them. But a dramatically higher proportion, 61 percent, support similar standards across the states — as long as they aren’t referred to as the Common Core. And this support for shared standards increased from 56 percent last year to 61 percent this year. Teachers’ opinions on Common Core remain evenly split: 45 percent support and 44 percent oppose the standards.split.