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Poll: Support for charters drops markedly over past year

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, children hold signs during a rally in support of public charter schools at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Support for charter schools has fallen significantly over the past year, according to a national opinion poll. Only 39 percent of respondents say they support the formation of charter schools, compared to 51 percent last year. The study was released by Education Next, an education journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, children hold signs during a rally in support of public charter schools at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Support for charter schools has fallen significantly over the past year, according to a national opinion poll. Only 39 percent of respondents say they support the formation of charter schools, compared to 51 percent last year. The study was released by Education Next, an education journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2016, file photo, children hold signs during a rally in support of public charter schools at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Support for charter schools has fallen significantly over the past year, according to a national opinion poll. Only 39 percent of respondents say they support the formation of charter schools, compared to 51 percent last year. The study was released by Education Next, an education journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Expanding charter schools around the country is losing support among Americans, even as President Donald Trump and his administration continue to push for school choice, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Trump campaigned on a promise to dramatically improve school choice – charter schools and private school voucher programs – and his Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made it a priority. But so far the message does not appear to have hit home with the public.

About 39 percent of respondents favor opening more charters – schools that are funded by public money, but usually operated independently of school districts – according to the survey by Education Next, a journal published by Harvard’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. That’s down from 51 percent last year.

Supporters of charter schools had feared that Trump’s polarizing rhetoric could hurt the school-choice movement.

But the authors of the report say the decline in support for charters can’t be linked directly to Trump. They say support for charters slipped almost equally across party lines: by 11 percent among Democrats and by 13 percent among Republicans.