A national poll conducted by the American Federation for Children shows that support for school choice stands at 67 percent, a 4 percentage-point increase from a year ago.
The poll surveyed 1,200 likely November 2020 voters to determine general support and opposition, posing the question, “Generally speaking, would you say you favor or oppose the concept of school choice?”
Among the two-thirds of respondents who said they favor school choice, 40 percent said they strongly support it.
Survey results, released Thursday, show that support for school choice is broad across demographic categories. Latinos lead with 73 percent, followed by Whites with 68 percent and African Americans with 67 percent.
Eighty percent of Republicans support school choice, up from 75 percent in 2018, compared with 56 percent of Democrats, up from 54 percent. Sixty-nine percent of Independents voiced support for choice, up from 62 percent in 2018.
Millennials continue to be the most robust supporters of school choice in terms of age groups, with 75 percent voicing approval. Parents and grandparents, including those with children in traditional public schools, back school choice by a 3-to-1 ratio.
The survey also polled families on their preference for private versus public schools. While 58 percent of respondents said their children attend a traditional public school, only 35 percent of them said public schools are their first choice of school. Meanwhile, 59 percent of respondents said they would prefer for their child to attend a different type of school, with 29 percent citing a religious school, 18 percent a private non-religious school and 11 percent a charter school.
Almost three in five respondents selected three or more actions from a list of possible personal sacrifices they would be willing to make to send their child to a private school for free. About half said they would be willing to drive their child 25 miles each way to school; 46 percent said they would be willing to move 10 miles; and 41 percent said they would be willing to change jobs.
This year marks the fifth year that the American Federation for Children has conducted its National School Choice Poll. The survey fielded Jan. 6-10 with interviews conducted on landline and cell phones in English and Spanish. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
