---

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. Demographic Profile of Respondents

· A total of 1007 Texas residents completed the questionnaire.

· The data were collected in December 2004 and January 2005.
· Sixty-six percent of respondents are female and 34% male.
· About 61% of respondents reported that no child less than 18 years of age lived in the household; however, 31% reported one or two children less than 18 years of age lived in the household.
· About 67% of respondents considered themselves to be white, 16% Hispanic and eight percent African-American.
· About 21% of respondents had some high school or a high school education. Twenty-seven percent indicated they had completed some college, 27% completed a college education and 13% complete a graduate degree.
· Respondents had lived in Texas for an average of 35 years and lived in their current district for and average of 18 years.

2. About 45% of the respondents rated the quality of public education in Texas as an A or B. Eighty percent of respondents rated public education as “passing” with a grade of A, B or C. Only 14% gave public schools failing grades of D or F.

· African-American respondents were slightly more negative about the quality of public education in Texas than were Caucasians and Hispanics. About 21% of African-Americans gave public education failing grades of D or F compared to 9% of Caucasians and 8% or Hispanics.
· Respondents with less than a high school education (39%) and a high school education (25%) tended to rate the quality of education with an "A" more than did respondents with other levels of formal education. However, their overall ratings of A, B or C were about the same among respondents representing all educational levels.
· Respondents with children in the HH tended to rate the quality of education in Texas as better than respondents without children. About 77% of respondents with no children in the HH rated the quality of Texas public schools with a grade of A, B or C. This compares to 88% of respondents with three or more children in the household.
· There were no differences in responses based on the respondent’s gender.

3. About 34% of respondents rated the quality of public education in the U.S. as an A or B. About 68% of respondents rated U.S. public schools as “passing” with a grade of A. B or C. Only 13% gave public education in the U.S. failing grades of D or F.

· A higher proportion of minority respondents (42% Hispanics, 44% African-Americans) tended to give national education a rating of A or B than did Caucasian respondents (30%).
· A higher proportion of respondents with less than a high school education (22%) and a high school education (12%) were more likely than other respondents to rate the quality of education nationally as an “A.” However, their overall ratings of A, B or C were about the same among respondents representing all educational levels.
· A higher proportion of respondents with children tended to rate the quality of national education higher than did respondents with no children in the household. About 63% of respondents with no children in the HH rated the quality of U.S. public schools with a grade of A, B or C. This compares to 78% of respondents with three or more children in the household.
· There were no differences in responses based on the respondent’s gender.

4. A slight majority of respondents (56%) rated the quality of education in their district as an A or B. An even larger majority (79%) rated the quality of education in their district as an A, B or C. About 13% rated the quality of education in their district as failing (D or F).

· A slightly higher proportion of Caucasian respondents (60%) than Hispanic (54%) and African-American (44%) respondents were likely to rate education in their district with an
“A” or “B.”
· A higher proportion of respondents with less than a high school education (39%) and a high school education (26%) were more likely than other respondents to rate the quality of education in their district as an “A.” However, their overall ratings of A, B or C were about the same among respondents representing all educational levels.
· The number of children in the HH or the gender of the respondents were not factors in rating this question.

5. Slightly less than a majority (44%) said public education in their district was better than education in other districts. About 80% of respondents indicated that public education in their district was better or the same in other districts. Only 14% said that the education was worse in their district.

· Hispanic (20%) and African-American (18%) respondents were more likely than Caucasian (9%) respondents to say the education in their district was worse.
· The more education completed by respondents, the more likely they were to say that the education in their district was better than in other districts. The differences were very small.
· The number of children in the HH or the gender of the respondents were not factors in rating this question.

6. About 34 percent of respondents indicated that the quality of education had gotten better in the past five years. Seventy-nine percent of respondents indicated that public education was better or the same as five years ago. This compares to 23% who said it was worse.

· Hispanic (49%) respondents indicated that the quality of education had gotten better than compared to the opinions of Caucasian (31%) and African-American (34%) respondents.
· Respondents with less education tended to be more positive of the changes than were respondents with more formal education. About 51% of respondents with less than a high school education and 41% of high school graduates said the quality of education had gotten better in the past five years. This compares to 29% with a college education and 28% with a graduate degree.
· The number of children in the HH or the gender of the respondents were not factors in rating this question.

7. Almost a majority of respondents (48%) indicated that public schools were worse than private schools during the past five years. Only 15% rated public schools as better than private schools and 24% said they were about the same.

· Hispanic (23%) respondents were more likely than Caucasian (13%) and African-American (11%) respondents to indicate that the quality of education in private schools was better than public schools.
· College educated respondents were more likely than respondents with other levels of formal education to be critical of public schools. About 55% of college graduates indicated that public schools had gotten worse in the past five years compared to responses by 41% of high school graduates and 31% of respondents with less than a high school education.
· There was little difference in the respondents based on their gender or the number of children in the HH.

8. A majority of respondents (57%) rated the quality of teachers in Texas with an A or B. An even larger percent of respondents (86%) gave the quality of teachers in Texas a “passing” grade of A, B or C. Only 9% gave the teachers a failing grade of D or F.

· There were no differences in the responses based on the respondents' race, gender, education or the number of children in the HH.

9. Almost a majority of respondents (49%) indicated that the district has a problem of getting good teachers, while 43 % indicated that their district did not have a problem with getting good teachers.

· Respondents with graduate degrees (58%) were more likely than respondents with other levels of education (less than high school =42%, and high school graduates=46%) to suggest that their district has a problem of getting good teachers.
· Race and gender of the respondents was not a factor in how the respondents answered this question.
· Respondents with more children in the HH tended to be more likely to agree that the district has a problem of getting good teachers. Respondents with more children in the HH (3=56%, 4+ =69%) tended to be more likely than respondents with no children (50%) to agree that the district has a problem of getting good teachers.

10. About 54% indicated that their district has a problem of keeping good teachers, while 38% indicated that their district did not have a problem with keeping good teachers.

· African-American (63%) and Hispanic (59%) respondents were more slightly more likely than Caucasian (51%) respondents to indicate that their district had a problem with getting good teachers.
· Respondents with graduate degrees (59%) were more likely than respondents with other levels of education (less than high school =48%) suggest that their district has a problem of keeping good teachers.
· Gender of the respondents and the number of children in the HH were not factors in how the respondents answered this question.

11. Only 10% of respondents identified the term used for private schools such as charter schools or the use of vouchers. A large majority of the respondents (87%) could not identify the terms.

· There were not differences in the responses based on the respondents' gender, race, education or the number of children in the HH.

12. Using a scale of 1 to 5 with one representing no effect and five representing a large effect, respondents were asked to rate the effect that the school funding debate was having on the quality of public education. The mean response was 3.1 or an opinion in the middle. About 36% (rating of 4 or 5) of the respondents indicated that the state funding debate was having a negative effect on the quality of education in public schools. About 29% (rating of 1 or 2) indicated that it was not having a negative impact.

· There were no differences in responses based on the respondent’s gender.
· Respondents with a college education tended to agree more than other respondents that the debate was having a negative impact. About 40% of college educated respondents said the debate of school funding was having a negative impact on the quality of education compared to 34% of respondents with less than a high school education and 31% with a high school education.
· There were no differences in the responses based on the respondents' gender, race or the number of children in the HH.

13. A majority of respondents (54%) indicated that there were too many children in the classrooms, while 36% indicate that the number was about right and 4% said there were too few.

· There were no differences in the responses based on the respondents' gender, race, education or the number of children in the HH.

14. The largest proportion of respondents indicated that “lack of funding” (30%) was the largest problem faced by Texas public schools. The other problems in Texas public school are student behavior/discipline (16%), followed by overcrowding (7%), quality of teachers (5%) and the lack of positive parental influence (5%).

15. The problems in the local districts were almost identical to those respondents listed for the state; however, the percentages for each problem for the local districts were slightly different. The largest proportion of respondents listed “lack of funding” (26%) as the largest problem in their district. Other problems in the local district included student behavior/discipline (17%), overcrowding (7%), quality of teachers (5%) and lack of positive parental influence (5%).

###