Knight Survey Finds Solid Public Support for Schools

By Catherine Gewertz

Six in 10 Americans believe their public schools are doing a good or excellent job, but that opinion varies depending on the community in which they live, a national survey has found.

In the survey released this month by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 63 percent of respondents gave their public schools positive ratings, holding them in higher esteem than their local governments (55 percent positive). Other areas of local government received higher ratings: the fire department (90 percent), public libraries (79 percent positive), and the...