Equity and Adequacy:
Americans Speak on Public School Funding

A Forum — October 22, 2004

A majority of Americans recognize that there are significant differences in the quality of schools in high- and low-income areas, and they worry about an over-reliance on property taxes as a way to fund schools, according to a national survey released by Educational Testing Service (ETS).

These are among the findings of Equity and Adequacy: Americans Speak on Public School Funding, a public opinion poll conducted by Democratic pollster Peter Hart and the late Republican pollster Robert Teeter. This fourth annual poll commissioned by ETS reveals Americans’ attitudes about the fairness of the way in which public schools are funded; education reform; and how effectively the nation’s public schools are educating students.

According to the poll, nearly half (45%) of Americans feel that schools need either major changes (30%) or a complete overhaul (15%) to get on track. Parents give their children’s school grades that average out to a B-, and the average grade for the nation’s schools as a whole is a C. The real concern is about schools in poor neighborhoods, with 60 percent of the public saying that schools in low-income areas are either inadequate or in crisis.

Although the public endorses spending on public schools, it widely perceives waste in education spending and has doubts that additional funding necessarily would lead to a tangible improvement in education quality. The public believes that little money is wasted in classrooms, but rather it is wasted due to state and federal mandates and administrative salaries and benefits. The public also believes (51 percent) that the biggest problems in schools are not about money; rather they have to do with lack of parental involvement, lack of discipline, ineffective teachers and administrators, and inappropriate curriculum. Only 30 percent of adults said that the biggest problems have to do with money, such as low teacher salaries, too few teachers, overcrowded classes, or inadequate supplied/facilities.

The public is divided over whether funding equity – the idea that each school should receive funds necessary to ensure that all students have the opportunity to meet defined academic standards – should be the guiding principle for education policy. Forty-six percent of adults believe that equitable funding means a system in which the same amount of money is spent on each student and 48 percent believes it is a system in which low-income students or special-needs students receive more money. Policymakers (primarily district superintendents in this survey), by 58 percent to 33 percent, support the approach of providing additional funding for needy students.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Accountability is in the eye of the beholder - While there is great demand for education accountability, the public is divided on how it defines accountability. The three most common interpretations include “higher standards for student learning and testing to ensure standards are being met;” “tighter controls on how dollars are spent, with less waste;” and “teachers and administrators who listen to parents and follow through to ensure their concerns are addressed.”
• The public is split over No Child Left Behind. Real progress in informing Americans has brought awareness of reforms to 50 percent, compared with 37 percent a year earlier, but as many are critical of reforms as welcome them.
• Americans want fairness in school funding – The public leans toward a greater role for states in funding education as a way to solve the problem in low-income schools. Sixty-five percent of all adults say they believe it is appropriate to allocate tax revenues raised in other areas to schools in low-income areas. Policymakers support this by 68 percent.
   

The executive summary of the report is available at http://ftp.ets.org/pub/corp/2004summary.pdf

Additional information on this survey and the previous three surveys conducted by Hart and Teeter for ETS can be obtained by contacting Shilpi Niyogi, Director, Strategy and Project Management, Communications & Public Affairs, Educational Testing Service, 1800 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, 202-659-8076, nniyogi@ets.org.