Philadelphians Want Choices in Education

Democratic voters in the city overwhelmingly support policies that give parents choices for their children’s education, according to a poll conducted on behalf of A Greater Philadelphia. Nearly 80% support both a) allowing families to opt into neighborhood public schools outside their own neighborhood and b) education savings accounts to enable low-income families to opt into private schools, special education services or after-school tutoring.

More than half of respondents say they are unsatisfied with the quality of schools in their neighborhood.

Allowing families to opt into neighborhood public schools outside their own neighborhood:

  SUPPORT 77%
Strongly support 44%
Somewhat support 33%

  OPPOSE 14%
Somewhat oppose 6%
Strongly oppose 8%

Didn’t answer 9%

Education savings accounts received even stronger support, if they were targeted at families who most needed them.

Education savings accounts to enable low-income families to opt into private schools, special-education services or after-school tutoring:

  SUPPORT 77%
Strongly support 53%
Somewhat support 24%

  OPPOSE 12%
Somewhat oppose 5%
Strongly oppose 7%

Didn’t answer 11%

Black and Hispanic residents are the most unsatisfied with their neighborhood schools — and the most likely to favor various forms of parental choice. Eighty-two percent of Black and Hispanic respondents said they favor neighborhood school choice, and 79% favor education savings accounts, vs. 69% in both cases among White and Asian respondents.

Poll conducted on behalf of A Greater Philadelphia Feb. 14-17, 2022, among 800 registered Democratic voters by McLaughlin & Associates and Frederick Polls. Results are +/- 3.4% at a 95% confidence interval.