Calif. Poll Finds Support for State Action on Schools

By Robert C. Johnston

Californians are continuing to lose confidence in their public schools and appear ready to let state policymakers, not local school boards, lead the way to reform, according to a statewide poll.

In the survey of 1,003 Californians, 61 percent agreed that the schools need a "major overhaul," up from 54 percent who were asked the same question two years ago. Just 6 percent felt that the schools provide a "quality education."

The poll was conducted last month by Policy Analysis for California Education, a university-based think tank, and the Field Institute polling firm in San Francisco. "It's like they're saying: 'We're fed up and we're not going to take it anymore, and I don't care who fixes it, just fix it,'" said Michael W. Kirst,...