Raise Your Hand Texas (RYHT) commissioned a statewide poll of Texans’ perspectives and expectations heading into the 2019 legislative session. The survey reveals Texans strongly believe our students and teachers need more support, that our state leaders bear the greatest responsibility for strengthening our public schools, and the state should fund full-day pre-K. Highlights of the poll include:
- Texans say education is the most important issue for the governor and the Texas Legislature to address this year. According to respondents, the top three education priorities this legislative session are:
- School funding
- Teacher pay
- High-stakes standardized testing
- Most Texans believe the governor and Legislature bear the greatest responsibility for improving public education, above any other federal or local group.
- Texans have a favorable impression of their local public schools. More than half of Texans give the public school nearest them and schools in their communities a grade of an “A” or “B.” Their impressions drop significantly when asked about schools throughout Texas and across the nation.
- Texans rate their local teachers highly. A supermajority (68 percent) give their local teachers a grade of either “A” or “B,” while only 3.5 percent of respondents give teachers in their community an “F” grade.
- Texans think the state needs to invest more in public education, and they don’t believe funding should be tied to a standardized test. A strong majority say not enough money is being spent on education. Nearly 93 percent believe programs receiving public dollars must be academically and financially accountable and transparent to taxpayers. More than 70 percent oppose high-stakes standardized testing as a measure of accountability for public schools. Nearly 80 percent oppose tying public school funding increases to student performance on standardized tests, where higher test scores mean more money for a school.
- Most Texans mistakenly believe the state covers a significantly larger share of education funding than it actually does. A majority (54.3 percent) think state and local property taxes cover equal shares or the state covers the majority of funding. In actuality, the state is projected to only cover 38 percent of school funding in 2019, while local property taxes are projected to cover 62 percent.
- Most Texans support full-day pre-K for at-risk students and believe the state should fund it. A supermajority (82.5 percent) of respondents believe pre-K levels the playing field for school readiness. Nearly 80 percent believe at-risk students should have access to full-day pre-K, rather than half-day pre-K. More than 70 percent say the state, rather than local communities, should fund full-day pre-K.
- Texans value teachers and overwhelmingly want teachers to be paid more. When asked what they value most about Texas public schools, Texans most often respond with:
Teachers and staff
2. Quality/focus on students
3. Cost and accessibilityMore than 85 percent of respondents believe teachers should be paid more. When asked about their greatest concerns about Texas public schools, Texans cite the following:
1. Poor teaching
2. Lack of funding and teacher pay
3. Too much focus on high-stakes standardized testing