Ed Next poll: Support for choice increases, but confusion over charters remains

Americans express increasing support for school choice models often backed by Republicans, including vouchers to send low-income students to private schools and tax credits for donations to organizations that give private school scholarships, according to this year’s Education Next poll. But the findings also show that, compared to past years, more Americans are siding with teachers who go on strike, and they have favorable views of teachers unions — opinions more common among Democrats. “It’s not like the country is moving in a left direction or a right direction,” said Paul Peterson, the senior editor of the Education Next journal, which tends to feature more conservative viewpoints. He’s also the director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University. Peterson added that the rising support for policies that are “quite different from one another” could suggest Americans want to see change.