Private or Public schools?
Private schools provide a better overall learning environment than public schools according to a small percentage of Americans. In a Poll Position national scientific telephone survey, 47% said private schools have a better overall learning environment, 43% said public schools do, 10% had no opinion.
Differences on the question were significant along political and racial lines. Among Republicans, 66% chose private schools, 26% selected public schools, 8% did not have an opinion. Democratic opinion differed with 64% saying public schools provide a better overall learning environment, 29% chose private schools, 8% offered no opinion. Independents were closely divided with 44% choosing private schools, 42% selecting public schools, 14% did not have an opinion.
Whites favored private schools by 51% over the 40% who picked public schools, 10% did not have an opinion. African-Americans countered with 59% choosing public schools, 39% saying private schools provide a better overall learning environment, 5% offered no opinion.
Poll Position’s scientific telephone survey of 1,155 registered voters nationwide was conducted January 05, 2012 and has a margin of error of ±3%. Poll results are weighted to be a representative sampling of all American adults.
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The online companion poll in which you can vote provides unscientific results, meaning it’s a tally of participating Poll Position users, not a nationally representative sampling.
Poll Position is committed to transparency and upholding the highest professional standards in its polling, explaining why we provide you with the crosstabs of our scientific polls. Crosstabs provide a breakdown of survey participants by age, race, gender, and political affiliation. Here are the crosstabs for this poll: Poll Position Crosstabs-Public or private school
You can learn more about our polling methodology here.
