Schools Survey

Maryland voters indicated a preference for sending their children to nonpublic schools over any other type of school by more than a two-to-one margin and a majority of them expressed support for a business tax credit scholarship program, according to a new public opinion survey taken in late June.

The results of the survey of 1,200 likely voters were released August 28 by a coalition of nonpublic school organizations, including the Maryland Catholic Conference and the Mid-Atlantic Catholic Schools Consortium.

Voters indicated that they value the role and contributions of nonpublic schools. In response to the statement “Maryland’s private schools currently enroll about 136,000 students and save taxpayers approximately $1.56 billion in yearly public school expenditures – based on combined local and state government funding of $11,459 per public school student,” 29 percent of respondents called the private schools “very important” and 37 percent called them “somewhat important” to public education in Maryland. Only 21 percent called private schools “not that important,” and 13 percent “not at all important.”

Respondents also indicated a preference for sending their children to nonpublic schools over any other type of school by a more than two to one margin. More than a third considered overcrowded classrooms (22%) or overcrowded schools (14%) to be major challenges facing public schools.

“These results send a clear message about the importance of supporting all segments of Maryland’s education community,” said Mary Ellen Hrutka, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Catholic Schools Consortium. “The economic savings provided by private schools is only one of their many contributions to the state, but it’s clearly an important factor to consider given respondents’ concerns about public-school overcrowding.”

“In that context, it’s important to remember that efforts to sustain enrollments in Catholic and other private schools also relieve public-school overcrowding and save taxpayer dollars.”

Voters also expressed support for tax credit scholarship programs, in which businesses receive state tax credits for contributing money to nonprofit organizations that distribute private school scholarships or fund supplemental programs affiliated with public schools.

Voters favor this kind of program by 52 to 48 percent, and support by a 59 to 41 percent margin programs which provide tax credit scholarships to all families, regardless of income or special needs. The support grows to 63 to 37 for programs which limit the scholarships to students with financial need. The survey results indicate strong support for tax credit scholarships across all demographic groups.

“The majority support for giving businesses a tax credit for donating to needs-based scholarship programs is encouraging news, given how close we are to enacting this legislation in Maryland,” said Mary Ellen Russell, deputy director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, and a member of the Nonpublic School Coalition’s steering committee.

The BOAST Maryland Tax Credit, which would provide businesses with a 75 percent state income tax credit on donations made to eligible scholarship organizations or innovative educational programs, passed the Maryland Senate by a 30-17 vote in its 2008 session. It did not receive a vote in the House of Delegates. State lawmakers will consider the legislation again in their 2009 session.

“If anything, the take-away from this poll is that Marylanders suffer from a lack of information – or worse a campaign of misinformation – when it comes to possible options for expanding parents’ educational choices,” Russell noted. “When given proper information about the benefits that a diverse educational system provides, it’s clear that voters are open to supporting all students and families, regardless of where their children attend school.”

The scientifically representative survey of 1,200 likely Maryland voters was conducted under the auspices of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, an Indianapolis-based education reform organization. The survey was taken June 27-29 by Strategic Vision, an Atlanta-based public affairs agency whose polls have been used by Newsweek, Time Magazine, BBC, ABC News, and USA Today among others. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The Maryland findings are the latest in a series of surveys commissioned under the Friedman Foundation’s Survey in the State project. Recent surveys include Oklahoma, which was released in June of 2008, Idaho and Tennessee, both released in March of 2008; Nevada, January, 2008; Illinois, December 2007; and Georgia, April 2007.

Sponsors of the poll include the Maryland Catholic Conference, Maryland CAPE, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, Agudath Israel of Maryland, the Mid-Atlantic Catholic Schools Consortium, Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (HCREO), and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA).