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Table 24. Public opinion on selected education topics: 1997, 2000, 2001, and 2002

________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                  |                       Percent distribution
                                  |_____________________________________________________________________
             Question             |    National totals   |No children in school  |Public school parents
                                  |______________________|_______________________|______________________
                                  |1997 |2000|2001 |2002 | 1997 |2000|2001 |2002 |1997 |2000|2001 |2002
__________________________________|_____|____|_____|_____|______|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_____
                1                 | 2   | 3  | 4   | 5   |  6   | 7  |  8  |  9  | 10  |11  | 12  | 13
__________________________________|_____|____|_____|_____|______|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_____
                                  |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
In your opinion, is there too     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 much emphasis on achievement     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 testing in the public schools    |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 in this community, not enough    |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 emphasis on testing, or about    |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 the right amount?                |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
  Percent responding .............|  100| 100|  100|  100|   100| 100|  100|  100|  100| 100|  100|  100
  Too much emphasis...............|   20|  30|   31|   31|    20|  28|   29|   30|   19|  34|   36|   32
  Not enough emphasis.............|   28|  23|   22|   19|    28|  26|   22|   20|   26|  19|   20|   14
  Just the right amount of        |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
      emphasis ...................|   48|  43|   44|   47|    46|  41|   45|   46|   54|  46|   43|   54
  Don't know......................|    4|   4|    3|    3|     6|   5|    4|    4|    1|   1|    1| ---
                                  |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
A proposal has been made that     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 would allow parents to send      |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 their school-age children to     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 any public, private, or church-  |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 related school they choose.  For |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 those parents choosing non-      |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 public schools, the government   |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 would pay all or part of the     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 tuition.  Would you favor or     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 oppose this proposal in your     |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
 state?                           |     |    |     |     |      |    |     |     |     |    |     |
  Percent responding:             |  100| 100|  100|  100|   100| 100|  100|  100|  100| 100|  100|  100
  Favor...........................|   49|  45|   44|   52|  --- |--- | --- |   51|   55|  47|   52|   51
  Oppose..........................|   48|  52|   54|   46|  --- |--- | --- |   47|   43|  51|   47|   46
  Don't know......................|    3|   3|    2|    2|  --- |--- | --- |    2|    2|   2|    1|    3
__________________________________|_____|____|_____|_____|______|____|_____|_____|_____|____|_____|_____

---Not available.

NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding.

SOURCE: Phi Delta Kappa, Phi Delta Kappan, "The Annual Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools," 2002. (This table was prepared August 2002.)

National Center for Education Statistics - http://nces.ed.gov
U.S. Department of Education