Public opinion of public and private school choice: 1989 to 1999

Table 24

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                         |               Percent who favor position
                                         |______________________________________________________________________________
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |                      1999
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |_____________________________________
                Question                 |1989|1990|1991|1993|1995|1996|1997|1998 |       |   No    | Public  |Nonpublic
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |children | school  | school
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |Total  |in school| parents | parents
_________________________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|_____|_______|_________|_________|_________
                    1                    | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  |  9  |  10   |   11    |   12    |   13
_________________________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|_____|_______|_________|_________|_________
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
Do you favor or oppose allowing          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  students and their parents to          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  choose which public schools in the     |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  community the students attend          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  regardless of where they live?.........| 60 | 62 | 62 | 65 | 69 |--- |--- | --- |   --- |     --- |     --- |     ---
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
Do you favor or oppose allowing          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  students and parents to choose         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  a private school to attend at          |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  public expense?........................|--- |--- | 26 | 24 | 33 | 36 | 44 |  44 |    41 |      38 |      45 |     ---
                                         |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
Do you think private schools that accept |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  government tuition payments for        |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  these students should be accountable   |    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
  to public authorities or not?..........|    |    |    |    |    |    |    |     |       |         |         |
    Yes, should be accountable...........|--- |--- |--- | 63 | 73 |--- |--- |  75 |    77 |      77 |      79 |     ---
    No, should not be accountable........|--- |--- |--- | 34 | 24 |--- |--- |  20 |    21 |      21 |      18 |     ---
    Don't know...........................|--- |--- |--- |  3 |  3 |--- |--- |   5 |     2 |       2 |       3 |     ---
_________________________________________|____|____|____|____|____|____|____|_____|_______|_________|_________|_________

---Data not available.

SOURCE: Phi Delta Kappa, "The Annual Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools," various years. (This table was prepared September 1999.)

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