(The Center Square) – Opportunity Scholarships are supported by nearly 61% and kindergarten through 12th grade satisfaction with local schools is 33%, according to a new poll of North Carolinians.
Abolishing the U.S. Department of Education is opposed by 50.8% of the respondents to the Carolina Journal poll conducted by Cygnal on Wednesday through Saturday of last week. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3.97% among the 606 polled.
Spending on education was the largest share of taxpayer dollars in the last state budget at $17.9 billion for 2024-25, and $17.3 billion for 2023-24 of the $60.7 billion two-year plan.
The 17-question poll asked, “Who is best suited to determine where a child should attend school out of the following options?” Parents or guardians took 71.8% of the responses. The local education board (13.6%), state education board (4%) and U.S. Department of Education (3.5%) trailed and 7.1% were unsure.
Open enrollment was supported by 71.5% of respondents.
Six of eight options shared a mostly balanced portion of the responses to the question, “In your opinion, what is the most challenging issue facing K-12 public education?” The sampling was led by teacher shortages (19.9%), academic standards (15%), curriculum concerns (14.6%), adequate finances (13.1%), lack of parental involvement (12.4%) and school safety (11.1%).
Overcrowded classrooms (6.9%) and workforce preparation (2.8%) were other choices along with unsure (4.2%).
The question on the Opportunity Scholarship program has been a staple of the polling for more than a year. Support has never been below 6 in 10 and peaked at 67.3% in January 2023. Opposition to the program for this poll was 27.2%, slightly higher than a year ago (25.5%), in April of last year (24.2%) and in January 2023 (22.1%).
National School Choice Week began Sunday and runs through Saturday. North Carolina in 2023 became the 10th state, and first without a Republican trifecta of state government, to implement universal school choice. A $463 million appropriation in late 2024 wiped out a waiting list of about 55,000.
Support of charter schools has decreased the past two years, according to the poll. It was 68.7% in January 2023, 66% a year ago and 59.9% in this newest sampling.
