Kappan Poll Hits Bush Legislation 

There were a few real shockers in the 35th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/ Gallup Poll of “Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools” which appeared in the September issue of Phi Delta Kappan (www.pdkintl.org). Among them, a majority of Americans know very little or nothing at all about NCLB, but even so, reject the strategies recommended in the landmark education bill.  

Sixty-nine percent of those polled say they lack the information needed to decide whether they approve or disapprove of NCLB. Thirty-six percent claim to know nothing at all about the legislation.According to “NSTA Legislative Update” which also reviewed the results of the Gallup Poll, the majority of respondents said they believe the schools in their communities have trouble attracting and keeping good teachers; that teacher salaries are too low; and that higher salaries should be paid to teachers as an incentive for teaching in schools needing improvement. 

The folks in Washington especially might be surprised that 48 percent of respondents gave their community schools at least an “A” or “B,” and that 31 percent would give a “C” (totaling, by the way, 59 percent). And, in another possible warning of trouble down the line for the US Government, 73 per cent believed that efforts to help education should be concentrated on existing public schools, rather than “finding an alternative.”