According to a recent statewide poll, only 6 percent of Californians feel that their public schools provide a “quality education,” with more than three out of five agreeing that the schools need a “major overhaul.” When asked who should be responsible for reforming schools and raising student achievement, 33 percent picked parents and 32 percent selected teachers. Only 17 percent picked state government and even fewer, 17 percent, chose local school boards.
“We see a consistent absence of faith in local school boards or administrators as forceful agents of reform,” noted the survey report.
The poll, conducted in February by the Field Institute of San Francisco for Policy Analysis for California Education, a university-based public policy institute, surveyed 1,003 Californians. The poll’s margin of error ranges from +/- 3.0 percent to 4.5 percent.
