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Only 12% of Idahoans Polled Would Choose a Public School for Their Children

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice [1] just released a poll [2] of 1,000 likely voters in Idaho. If they “could select any type of school,” a whopping 12% would choose a “regular public school,” little more than half the number who would choose homeschooling (21%). Private schools were most popular, at 39%, followed by charter schools (25%).

According to the Friedman Foundation, only 4% of those polled ages 36-55“”an age group likely to have K-through-12-aged children””responded that they would choose a public school. (67% of all poll participants were indeed parents or guardians of school-aged children.)

Additionally, 47% of those polled rated Idaho’s public school system as “poor” or “fair.” 21% more were “undecided.”

59% named either “academic quality” or “school curriculum” as the reason for their school preference. Clearly, our neighbors to the east aren’t satisfied with the “education” in “public education.” The vast majority of Idahoans would rather choose other options before public schools.

The question for us is, would Oregonians answer differently if given the opportunity?


Kathryn Hickok [3] is Publications Director, Development Coordinator, and Director of the Children’s Scholarship Fund-Portland [4] at Cascade Policy Institute [5], Oregon’s premier free market think tank.

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