Poll finds support for more school funding, if the money is well spent
A new poll by a group sympathetic to Gov. Nathan Deal’s educational overhaul finds that there is support among Georgia voters to spend more on education but that most want to see more efficiency and effectiveness first.
The governor will need public and political support if he takes a plan to the General Assembly next year.
Deal's Education Reform Commission, which meets Thursday, is discussing a proposal to add a quarter of a billion dollars in state educational funding while eliminating a decades-old formula that governors and legislatures have routinely underfunded. The shortfall is around a half billion dollars this year.
The survey was commissioned by the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a Tallahassee-based nonprofit that seeks transparency and accountability in public schools, tax credits for private schooling and overhauls like the one Deal initiated. The group, which was founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and is chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has had a lobbyist at the commission meetings.
“When Georgians hear the facts, they support common-sense reforms,” said Patricia Levesque, the foundation CEO.
The October poll of 500 likely general election voters was done half by phone interviews and half “online through a self-selecting representative panel.” It found 15 percent felt Georgia was spending too much on education, 33 percent thought the amount was too small and 45 percent figured it was about right. But 67 percent agreed with the argument that “we need to reform the way we fund our public schools so the money is spent more efficiently and effectively.”
One Georgia budget expert said the survey left out an important piece of information. Its funding questions noted Georgia spends more than $9,000 per student but didn’t note that’s $1,601 less than the national average of $10,700, said Claire Suggs, an analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “It’s hard to judge what a reasonable estimate of per-student spending is without any indicator to compare it to,” she said.
Both Suggs and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, an educator advocacy group, noted that the poll found support for costly measures, such as increasing teacher pay and reducing class size.
The commission’s final recommendations are due in December. If Deal takes them to the General Assembly, the Republican governor will find complicated politics, the poll suggests. For instance, it found that more Democrats and independents were interested in a funding overhaul than voters in his own party. More Republicans want to keep the current system than change it.
About the Author
Ty Tagami is a staff writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Since joining the newspaper in 2002, he has written about everything from hurricanes to homelessness. He has deep experience covering local government and education, and can often be found under the Gold Dome when lawmakers meet or in a school somewhere in the state.
