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Each year the Gallup Organization reports the results of its national poll on the attitudes of adults toward the public schools. Selected results from recent polls are presented below. This is followed by a discussion of three statewide polls conducted by the Wisconsin Education Association Council and by a brief comment about school bureaucracies. Finally, there is a summary of selected findings from a 1994 survey of more than 9,000 WEAC teacher members.
How Informed is the Public?
As the attitudes and perceptions of the public are considered, the reader should recognize that there are significant misconceptions and misinformation about the public schools. The authors of the 1996 Gallup Poll suggest that many have exploited this lack of knowledge and understanding to further their own agendas. Four examples of public misunderstanding / misinformation follow:
1. Dropout Rates: 64% of adults believe the national high school dropout rate is higher today than it was 25 years ago. In fact, the dropout rate is much lower than in the past, and in Wisconsin is at its lowest level ever.
2. International Comparisons: A majority of Americans (54%) believe that U.S. children do not read as well as students in other developed nations, while 69% feel that they perform lower in mathematics. “In spite of the inconclusive nature of the data and some reports showing that American students do quite well, many Americans are persuaded that American children do less well than their counterparts in other developed nations on tests of achievement in math and reading. Ironically, it is the better educated segments of the population who are the most likely to believe that student achievement in both mathematics and reading is lower in the U. S. than in Great Britain, Germany, and Japan” (Elam, et al, 1996, p. 57).
3. The Number of Special Education Students: The public is uninformed about the percent of public school students who are classified as having special education needs. Only about one-in-four adults comes close to estimating the actual figure of 12% of U. S. students classified as having special needs. (In Wisconsin, the figure is 12.4%).
4. Cost of Educating Special Education Students: The public is seriously uninformed about the additional costs of educating a special education student. “Only 7% are aware that it costs at least 100% more to educate a special education student than it does to educate an average public school student” ((Elam, et. al, 1996, p. 58). As noted elsewhere in this paper (“Meeting the Needs of All Students”) one study estimates that on average it costs 2.3 times as much to educate a special education student as it does a regular education student.
Selected Gallup Poll Results (1995, 1996, and 1997)
Grading the public schools: As has been the case for many years, people rate the school their oldest child attends higher than they rate the neighborhood’s schools or the nation’s schools. This suggests that when individuals have more contact with, and knowledge of, the schools, this usually results in higher levels of confidence.
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Grades given to the public schools by those with children in the public schools (1997) |
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| Nation's schools | Neighborhood Schools | School of Oldest Child | |
| A | 2% | 10% | 26% |
| B | 20% | 36% | 38% |
| C | 48% | 32% | 23% |
| D | 15% | 11% | 7% |
| Fail | 6% | 6% | 4% |
| Don't Know | 9% | 5% | 2% |
Not surprisingly, adults without children in the public schools tend to give lower grades. However, compared with 1996, attitudes in 1997 are more positive. Among adults who send their children to private or religious schools in 1997, 24% give the nation’s public schools an “A” or “B” (up from 8% in 1996), 38% percent award a grade of “C,” while 15% say “D” and 6% say “Fail.” The remainder (17%) said they do not know.
Grades Given to the Community’s Non-Public Schools: Sixty-three percent of the nation’s adults awarded a grade of “A” or “B” to their local private or church-related schools. Fourteen percent said “C,” while only 3% said “D” or “F” (1996). Grades awarded to nonpublic schools in the nation as a whole were somewhat lower.
School Vouchers: Slightly more than one-half of Americans (52%) oppose allowing students and parents to choose a private school at public expense (Rose, et. al, 1997). In 1996, 61% opposed this policy.
Obligations of Private Schools Which Accept Public Funds: 78% of adults say that if private schools accept public funds, they should be required to accept students from a wider range of backgrounds and academic ability (Rose, et. al, 1997).
Parental Support for Educators: When asked whose side they would take if their oldest child was misbehaving and being disruptive, public and private school parents answered differently (Rose, et. al, 1997).
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Parental Support for Educators: |
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| Public School Parents | Private Parents | |
| The school's side | 57% | 73% |
| Your child's side | 25% | 16% |
| Don't Know | 18% | 11% |
Home Schooling: Slightly more than one-third of U.S. adults (36%) believe that the movement toward home schooling is a “good thing.” In contrast, 57% say that it is bad (Rose, et. al, 1997).
School Prayer: 71% of adults favor an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would permit prayers in the public schools. However, when given a choice between a prayer and moment of silence, 70% say they favor silence over a spoken prayer (24%) (Elam, et. al, 1995).
Parental Obligations Regarding Achievement: When asked what would be the lowest grade a child of theirs could bring home on a report card without upsetting or concerning them, parents responded as follows: A (1%), B (21%), C (60%), D (13%), and Fail (3%). Two percent did not know (Rose, et. al, 1997).
Placement of Gifted and Talented Students: 52% of adults favored placement of gifted and talented students into separate classes; 44% favored placement in the same class (Rose, et. al, 1997).
Special Needs students: Only a small minority of adults favor placing students who have learning problems into regular classrooms. Most adults favor separate classes for students with special needs (Elam, et. al, 1995).
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Responses to the Question, “Should children with learning problems be put in the same classes with other students, or should they be put in special classes of their own?” |
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| National Totals | No Children In School | Public School Parents | Private School Parents | |
| Same Classes | 26% | 25% | 29% | 25% |
| Special Classes | 66% | 68% | 62% | 66% |
| Don't Know | 8% | 7% | 9% | 9% |
Biggest Problems in the Public Schools: Over the past several years, a handful of problems have been cited as the most serious ones facing the nation’s public schools: use of drugs / illegal substances, lack of discipline/control, lack of financial support/ funding/money, and fighting/violence/gangs.
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The Biggest Problems Facing the Public Schools, 1995 and 1996 |
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| 1996 | 1995 | |
| Drug Abuse | 16% | 7% |
| Lack of Discipline | 15% | 15% |
| Fighting/Violence/Gangs | 14% | 9% |
| Lack of Financial Support | 13% | 11% |
| Overcrowded Schools | 8% | 3% |
| Pupil's lack of interest/ truancy/ poor attitudes | 5% | 2% |
| Lack of family structure/ problems of home life | 4% | 3% |
| Crime/ vadalism | 3% | 2% |
| Poor curriculum/ low curriculum standards | 3% | 2% |
| Difficulty getting good teachers | 3% | 2% |
| Lack of respect | 2% | 3% |
| Integration/ segregation, racial segregation | 2% | 2% |
| No problems | 3% | 3% |
| Don't Know | 13% | 11% |
Americans are convinced that the level of student violence is increasing in the public schools. In the 1995 Gallup Poll, 37% of the national sample said that in their local public school violence has “increased a great deal,” while 30% said it “increased some.” Only 6% felt that the level of violence had declined.
However, when people are closer to the schools in question, and have more contact with them, they are less likely to believe that violence is a serious problem. For example, only 15% of parents felt that violence has increased a great deal in the school attended by their oldest child.
Support for Zero Tolerance Policies: 93% of adults favor a zero tolerance weapons policy, which means that any student found carrying a weapon of any kind automatically should be suspended (Rose, et. al, 1997).
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Ways
to Maintain Order and Security (1996) |
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| To Maintain Order: | |
| Remove trouble-makers | 92% |
| Students remain on grounds at lunch | 79% |
| Ban smoking on scholl grounds | 88% |
| Ban hugging and kissing on school grounds | 56% |
| To Maintain Security: | |
| Employ security guards | 81% |
| Use dogs to sniff out drugs | 75% |
| Random tests for drugs | 63% |
Level of School Violence: Americans believe that violence in the public schools is increasing. However, the public judges the school of their oldest child as being far safer than the nation’s schools or the local public schools in general (Elam, et. al, 1995).
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Precent Who Feel Violence is Increasing: |
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| in local public schools | in the Nation's public schools | in school attended by oldest child | |
| A great deal | 37% | 68% | 15% |
| Increased some | 30% | 21% | 26% |
| Decreased some | 5% | 2% | 7% |
| Declined a lot | 1% | 1% | 4% |
| Remained the same | 25% | 6% | 43% |
| Don't know | 2% | 2% | 5% |
Causes of School Violence: Lack of parental control and the breakdown in family life are seen as the major reasons for the increase in school violence (Elam, et. al, 1995).
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Public's Reasons for School Violence and Student Disruptions |
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| Reasons | Percent |
| Lack of parental control/discipline/ supervision /involvement/values | 24% |
| Lack of family structure/ problems of family life/ poverty | 20% |
| Drug related | 13% |
| Pupil's attitudes/ boredom/ disrespect/ lack of self esteem | 6% |
| Gang activity | 5% |
Compulsory Attendance Laws: Thirty percent of adults favor the elimination of compulsory attendance laws in the public schools in their community (Elam, et. al, 1996).
The 1994, 1995, and 1996 Wisconsin Polls
In January, 1994, in March, 1995, and in July, 1996, representative statewide samples of Wisconsin adults were surveyed by the Wisconsin Education Association Council. Selected findings follow.
Too Many Mandates: A majority of Wisconsin’s adults (58%) feel that schools are required to follow too many rules and regulations, often referred to as mandates (1994). However, when asked specifically about four of the state’s Twenty Educational Standards (listed below), forty-nine percent of adults feel they should be maintained, while 44% feel they should be strengthened. Only 5% feel they should be eliminated.
The following standards were asked about
Unions and “Bad” Teachers: Two-thirds of adults believe that teachers’ unions protect bad teachers. Although the public has this perception of unions, this does not mean that the public is opposed to “just cause” or “due process” for teachers (1994).
Job Security: Forty-one percent of adults in Wisconsin believe that public school teachers have “too much job security.” Forty percent do not believe this is true, while 19% say they “don’t know” (1996).
Teacher Pay: Few adults in Wisconsin feel that teachers are overpaid; 12% say teachers are paid too much, while 37% say they are underpaid. Of the rest, 34% say teachers are paid “about right,” while 16% said they do not know (1996).
Image of Teachers: Wisconsin’s citizens have a very favorable opinion of public school teachers. When asked to rank sixteen occupations as to their “contributions to society,” teachers ranked second only to medical doctors. The occupations and their ranks are listed below (1994).
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Occupations
ranked as to their |
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| Occupation | Rank | Occupation | Rank |
| Medical doctors | 1 | Secretaries | 9 |
| Public school teachers | 2 | Local politicians | 10 |
| Clergy | 3 | Bankers | 11 |
| Farmers | 4 | Union leaders | 12 |
| Judges | 5 | Lawyers | 13 |
| School board members | 6 | Funeral directors | 14 |
| Business executives | 7 | Realtors | 15 |
| Carpenters | 8 | Car salespeople | 16 |
Causes of School Problems: When asked to identify who is mostly responsible for the problems in our public schools, most “blamed” the parents of students or the “society at large” (1994).
Groups Judged as “Mostly Responsible” for the Problems in Wisconsin’s Public Schools
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Groups judged as "mostly responsible" for the problems in Wisconsin's public schools |
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| Group identified as "responsible" | Percent |
| Parents of students | 32% |
| Society at large | 27% |
| Public school administrators | 12% |
| Our elected leaders | 10% |
| Public school boards | 8% |
| Teachers | 6% |
| Students themselves | 5% |
Public Schools and Residential Preference: 82% said that the quality of the public schools is “very” or “somewhat” important in their decision about where to live (1994).
Communications with the Community: 43% of adults feel there is not enough communication between the school and community about student programs and services. This compares with 31% who feel communication is adequate and 24% who are uncertain (1996).
Handling Discipline Problems: Nearly two-thirds of Wisconsin’s citizens believe that the public schools are doing a poorer job of dealing with discipline today than in the past (1996).
Importance of the Basics: 46% of adults feel that there is not enough emphasis on the basics; 25% are uncertain, while 27% are satisfied. However, only 13% of Wisconsin’s citizens say that schools should eliminate extra-curricular activities such as sports, music, art, and some electives and concentrate only on basic education (1996).
Wisconsin’s Schools Compared With Other States: Wisconsin’s citizens feel their system of public education is much better than in other states: 52% say it is “better,” compared with 5% who say it is “worse.” A large percent, 30%, say it is “about the same.” The remainder indicated they had no opinion (1994).
Equity in Funding: The vast majority of adults (78%) feel that the amount of money spent to educate students in Wisconsin should be the same for all students, regardless of where they live (1994).
Public and Private Schools Compared: Respondents were asked to compare public and private (religious) schools in terms of how good a job each does in selected areas. The percent who said “excellent” or “good” for public and private/religious schools is shown below (1996).
Percent of Wisconsin’s Adults Who Indicate that the Schools are Doing an “Excellent” or “Good” Job, Public and Private/Religious Schools Compared
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Percent of Wisconsin adults who indicate that the schools are doing an "excellent" or "good" job, public and private/religious schools compared |
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| Public | Private | |
| Teaching students to deal with people from diverse backgrounds | 61% | 63% |
| Dealing with safety and security | 60% | 73% |
| Having smaller class sizes | 45% | 68% |
| Giving a strong foundation in the basics | 63% | 71% |
| Providing a better education for students with special needs | 76% | 39% |
| Removing kids who are disruptive | 42% | 58% |
| Preparing students for college | 65% | 70% |
| Employing better teachers | 64% | 68% |
| Offering students a wide breadth of experiences | 63% | 55% |
| Promoting values such as honesty and responsibility | 44% | 73% |
| Giving students an appreciation for religious values | 20% | 81% |
| Having higher academic standards | 60% | 75% |
Private Schools, Public Funds, and Accountability: 88% of adults feel that if private schools were to accept public dollars, they should have to meet educational standards established by the State of Wisconsin (1994).
Importance of Public Schools: Ninety-eight percent of Wisconsin’s citizens feel that it is important for the well-being of our state that we have strong and successful public schools (1996).
First Things First: What Americans Expect from the Public Schools
During the summer of 1994, Public Agenda, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and education organization, surveyed the American public on a variety of educational issues. The study, called First Things First, had ten key findings:
In a subsequent report entitled Assignment Incomplete (1995), Public Agenda arrived at several additional conclusions, including the following:
The Public Schools as Bureaucracies
One of the most common criticisms of public schools is that they are too bureaucratic. This bureaucracy often is defined as intransigent, inaccessible, and excessive. It is difficult to evaluate the extent to which a school’s bureaucracy is inaccessible or intransigent, for this would appear to be a characteristic which is unique to individual schools and school districts.
However, research does not indicate that schools employ too many administrators and central office staff. Nor is there evidence to show that school administrators are consuming an ever-increasing proportion of the school’s resources.
Data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that central-office administrators, who typically are labeled as the “bureaucracy,” represent about 1.6% of the education work force nationally (Houston, 1996). Another 2.9% of administrators work at the building level.
At the present time, education has approximately one manager for every 14.5 employees. In contrast, ratios in business range from a figure of 9.3:1 in the transportation industry to 4.7:1 in communications. The education ratios also do not take into account the fact that school managers are responsible for meeting the needs of hundreds of students and their parents.
International comparisons, however, provide a slightly different perspective. A 1996 study by the 29 member Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the United States spends a smaller proportion of its elementary and secondary education money on teacher pay than do 22 other nations (Education at a Glance, 1996). The United States devotes 56.2% of its education dollars to teacher pay.
Among the countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United States is the only one in which teachers are outnumbered by nonteaching staff (a 3:4 ratio compared to an average 5:2 ratio for the other countries).
In regard to cost, about 4.3% of district budgets go to administration, which is nearly the same percent as it was in 1960.
Teacher Needs and Proposed Changes
In 1994, 9,309 WEAC teacher members completed a survey which identified needs and proposed changes in several areas. These included relationships and communication, resources and equipment, parents and parent involvement, public support and perceptions, students and student problems, and teaching load and conditions (Allen and Leverich, 1994). Selected findings follow: