No matter who you ask, Oklahomans in almost every demographic are clearly opposed to tax dollars going to private schools. A majority of rural, suburban and urban parents; men and women, as well as Republicans, Democrats and Independents, are a hard no on vouchers.
The poll results were released by the Oklahoma Education Coalition. The scientific poll was conducted between Feb. 28 and March 3 by The Tarrance Group.
On first asking voters if they favor or oppose using tax dollars for private school tuition, 61% were opposed. After learning that private schools do not have the same accountability as public schools, almost no accessibility to private education for rural students, and vouchers mean less funding is available to improve schools, that number jumps to 68% oppose vouchers.
Drilling a little deeper into that 68%, the poll found high percentages of opposition to vouchers among all subgroups, including
- 66% of rural voters
- 70% of urban voters
- 72% of suburban voters
- 65% of Independents
- 86% of Democrats, and
- 59% of Republicans.
“I support public schools because they are available to every child. I have a child with needs that can’t be addressed by the majority of private schools,” said Lori Wathen, a parent and the Oklahoma PTA President. “What happens to him and students like him when their schools lose funding to finance private schools? It’s an issue of equity and access.”
When asked how they would rate public schools in their local area, 55% rated them excellent or good. Eighty-three percent said the teachers in their child’s school are excellent or good.
The polling results come as the State Senate is preparing to vote on SB 1647, a universal voucher plan that would allow current private school parents to dip into public school funds to help pay tuition and other private school expenses.
Oklahoma is currently 47th in the country in per-pupil funding, while ranking 16th in school choice. SB 1647 would hit rural schools the hardest, as they do not have the same private school options.
“Our teachers are doing incredible work, day in and day out, with limited resources and strapped funding,” said Jessica Eschbach, 2021 Oklahoma Teacher of the Year from Norman Public Schools. “School vouchers would be devastating to an already-challenging situation by siphoning millions of public dollars into private schools. There are all sorts of concerns about school vouchers, but the most immediate is the real harm it would do to public education.“
Polling shows that voters are a hard yes on the following actions:
- Increasing state funding for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade education to enable districts to hire more teachers and decrease class size – 85% approve,
- Increasing the pay and benefits of Oklahoma teachers to be more comparable to other professions with similar education and training requirements – 85%, and
- Increasing salaries for public school professionals like bus drivers, cooks, maintenance workers and secretaries in order to attract good candidates for these jobs – 89%.
Click here to see more results from The Tarrance Group polling.
