Vouchers, Charters A Mystery to Most

By Mary Ann Zehr

Don't put too much stock in polls on vouchers and charter schools, the latest poll on those subjects warns.

Most Americans—even parents in places where private school vouchers and charter schools are well-established—don't really understand those alternatives to regular public education, according to Public Agenda, the nonpartisan opinion-research group that released the findings last week.

"While the expert debate is very crisp and very well-defined, the public's views are much more uncertain," said Deborah Wadsworth, the executive director of the New York City-based group, which conducted the survey with funding from the Charles A. Dana Foundation. "If experts and policymakers are looking at survey data and saying, 'Oh, there's a lot of support for this alternative, or there's a lot of resistance,' this study is saying, 'Be wary, this...