Poll of parent voters shows support for school choice, mixed for Arkansas LEARNS Act
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Recently released poll results show positive support for school choice in Arkansas but mixed support for the Arkansas LEARNS Act.
The poll by the conservative group Opportunity Arkansas surveyed 513 voters who were parents of school-aged children in the state. The results show that 61% of respondents supported school choice but 33% supported the Arkansas LEARNS Act.
The polling indicates that those who were familiar with the LEARNS Act were more in favor of it, with 47% of that group saying they supported it.
Group re-submits Arkansas education rights ballot question to attorney general’s office
In terms of school choice opportunities, 47% of respondents said they had increased in the past year.
Among the respondents, 61% said they were either using or planning to use Education Freedom Accounts, the voucher program created by LEARNS.
Opportunity Arkansas founder and CEO Nic Horton said he believes the poll shows support growing for the Arkansas LEARNS Act as parents learn more about the new law.
“This support will only continue to increase as more and more families experience education freedom,” Horton said in a release. “Arkansas’s education reform journey is just beginning.”
Arkansas Public Policy Panel executive director Bill Kopsky had issues with the survey. The panel is part of the For AR Kids effort that working to new education rules on the November ballot that would match public and private school standards.
“Never trust a poll you can never see the cross tabs for,” Kopsy said, referring to the raw data behind a poll’s results, adding, “I don’t think you see data here, just conclusions.”
“I think the questions here were loaded to get the results we got,” he said about the poll.
Special session corrects mistake in LEARNS Act impacting Arkansas students with disabilities
The parents responding to the survey had students in a variety of school environments, with 65% having students in public schools in their school district and 7% with students in a traditional public school outside their school district. 11% with students in private or faith-based schools and 5% being home-schooled.
The study’s authors said that 38% of the respondents were Republican, 27% were Democrat, and the rest gave a party affiliation of Independent. A majority of the respondents, 69%, were between 18-44 years old, while 30% were in the 45-84 group and 1% over 65.
State Supreme Court reverses restraining order delaying Arkansas LEARNS Act start in 4-2 decision
The polling took place between Feb. 12 to 15 using automated voice and live phone calls as well as panel survey methods. The poll’s sampling error was 4.33%.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.