People may not be up to speed on how well the school system is working, but most would be willing to pay more taxes to support it.
Those are two of the conclusions from the Jacksonville Public Education Fund’s fourth annual Public Education Perceptions Poll released Tuesday.
The survey of more than 500 Duval County adult residents — including about 25 percent who have children enrolled in public schools — was conducted Jan. 9-15 by the University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Laboratory.
Topics included how familiar people are with the system’s performance, possible ways to improve education and where education ranks as a priority.
“The community needs to know what it thinks about public education,” said fund President Trey Csar.
“And it’s a reference point for community leaders and elected officials. Perception can be more important than reality,” he added.
One of the questions asked what people think the public high school graduation rate is in Duval County.
Despite the system having a record-setting 79 percent in the school year that ended in June, the mean response to the poll was that 62 percent graduate.
Even though they underestimated that benchmark for public education, 68 percent of parents whose children attend public schools would give more A and B grades than the state’s grading system, which is based on statewide standardized tests.
Only about one-third of schools achieved an A or B grade from the state last school year.
An increase in awareness of the value of teachers and decreased regard for testing in the past year was revealed by the survey.
In the 2016 poll, 6 percent of parents said the teachers were the most important consideration when enrolling a child in school, compared to 32 percent in the latest poll, an increase of nearly 26 percent.
The importance of test scores and school grades went down from 39 percent in the 2016 poll to 26 percent this year.
Another local trend away from standardized tests was borne out when 59 percent of respondents said teacher quality should be measured by classroom observations conducted by principals and administrators, compared to 32 percent who feel test scores should be the measurement.
The percentage of people surveyed that would support a small tax increase if the funds were earmarked for public education rose from 70 percent in the 2014-15 poll to 74 percent in the recent survey.
The question did not include a specific dollar amount or percentage increase.
When asked about the performance of the faculty currently teaching their child, 86.4 percent of parents said the teachers are very effective or somewhat effective.
On the subject of improvements made in public schools, 28.5 percent responded the most improvement was made in engaging parents, family and the community in the education process.
That’s followed by 27.6 percent who regard providing a well-rounded education including arts, music, physical education and health services as the most improved area.
Asked what they feel is the least improved aspect of public schools, 28.7 percent said it’s ensuring fair, effective and efficient use of money and resources.
The key to recruiting and training the highest-quality teachers depends on paying teachers more, either in base salary or bonuses, said 45 percent of those polled, followed by 41 percent who said teachers need more support staff, such as aides and behavioral specialists.
On the school choice issue, 84 percent said parents should be allowed to enroll their children in any public school with space available, regardless of where they live.
In terms of priorities, 49 percent said crime is the most important issue facing Jacksonville, followed by education at 21 percent and the economy at 13 percent.
Csar said the poll isn’t intended to allow parents or school administrators to draw conclusions about the responses but “creation of this ongoing measure is vital to making sure the public schools belong to the community.”
The full report with survey questions, raw data and graphics is available at jaxpef.org.
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