By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Federation of Teachers has been trumpeting the results of a new poll this week that suggests the majority of Americans oppose private school voucher programs and closing low-performing government schools.

Blogger Lindsey Burke of The Heritage Foundation wants everyone to remember that there are plenty of other recent polls that suggest just the opposite.

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For instance, a PDK/Gallup poll, released last summer, found 44 percent support for private school vouchers, which is three percent higher than the AFT poll. That represented a 10 percent increase in support from the year before, Burke noted.

A Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice poll found that more than 66 percent of mothers of school-age children favor vouchers for all children, according to Burke. Sixty-nine percent of the same group favored government tax credits that help support private school scholarships for students, and expressed more confidence in private schools than government schools.

Numerous recent surveys in several states reflect the same type of growing public acceptance for school choice, the blog said.

“Across the country, parents and taxpayers are voicing their support for policies that allow children to attend schools that meet their unique learning needs,” Burke wrote. “There is growing sentiment that state funding for public education should be directed toward students – not school buildings – and that those funds should follow children to any provider of choice.”