LITTLE ROCK (KATV) — A new statewide poll on education in Arkansas shows a majority of parents polled are in support of key elements of the LEARNS Act but some in educational leadership roles are calling foul.
Robert Coon, managing partner at Impact Management Group, a public affairs and public research firm in Little Rock, said ExcelinEd, a nonprofit organization out of Florida asked his group to conduct the survey.
The poll, conducted between Aug. 24 and Sept. 8, surveyed 800 registered voters who have children in K-12 grades.
“We tested a couple of different components of the LEARNS Act,” Coon said. “One dealt with Education Freedom Accounts (EFA’s), one dealt with teacher salaries, but we we wanted to make sure that we were looking at what are the viewpoints of folks in in various demographics.”
Coon said his group polled parents in six education regions identified by the Arkansas Department of Education which includes the Central, Southwest, Lower Delta, Upper Delta, Northcentral, and Northwest portions of the state.
One result showed there was a “dramatic disconnect” between parents and perception of students academic performance when it came to reading and math.
The belief that kids are learning at grade level when it comes to reading and math is much higher than the actual learning achievement levels,” Coon said.
Another result showed that 61% of families surveyed had a favorable view of LEARNS’ Education Freedom Accounts or school vouchers.
“The Delta, Southwest Arkansas, some of North Central Arkansas, is where you see a lack of choices for parents that have tried to find other options, but also some higher levels of AI, there may be a tool out there that I could utilize that might get me to where I want to be with my child’s education,” Coon said.
April Reisma, president of the Arkansas Education Association, said after reviewing the poll she didn’t think it represented a majority of Arkansas parents.
Considering the fact that 39% of the respondents had a median income of $100,000 or more, where our median income here in Arkansas is only $56,000,” Reisma said. “Also, 80% of the respondents were white.”
Reisma also noted that she thought the questions were “skewed” and lacked information for parents on different subjects including charter schools and school vouchers.
“The main concern here is that the kids that they seem to want to have to to help the ones that it said in the in the data that 74% in the Delta, were favorable towards it,” Reisma said. “The $6,600 is not going to cover the entire year’s expenses to be able to attend a private school…and let’s be honest, the schools that are approved for these EFA’s are mostly here in the Central Arkansas area and the Northwest area.”
