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Public Opinion on NCLBA Worsening
Public awareness of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which requires standardized testing for all students and penalizes failing districts, is growing, and more people are viewing the law less favorably. So found the latest Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, conducted in June 2007, which focused on the public view of public education.
54% of respondents answered that they knew a great deal or fair amount about NCLB, up from 45% last year and 24% in 2003. 31% of respondents held a "very or somewhat favorable" opinion of the law, about the same as last year, but 40% now say they have a "somewhat or very unfavorable" view. This is up 9 points from just last year, and up 27 points since 2003. In addition, more respondents are now likely place more blame for failing schools on NCLBA itself as opposed to the schools (49% vs. 43%). In 2006, more respondents were likely to blame the schools.
Schools place "too much emphasis" on achievement testing, a central tenant of NCLB, according to a plurality of respondents (43%, up from 31% in 2002). About 40% believe schools do "about the right amount" of testing. Among public school parents, 52% believe there is too much testing, 20 points higher than in 2002.
Perhaps troubling for school boards, PDK/Gallup found more respondents than in prior years willing to shift decision-making authority over K-12 schools from the local board to the state and federal level. In 1980, 68% believed the board should have "the greatest influence in what is taught", but that has dropped to 49% this year (9 points less than in 2006). 31% of respondents believe the state should have the greatest influence, and 20% believe this responsibility lies with the federal government.
The poll was administered to 1005 randomly selected adults nationwide, weighted to reflect the population, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 points.
Source: National School Boards Assn.
