Issue date: Nov. 6, 2003

Fewer Michigan residents favor charter schools

By Gisgie Gendreau

Support for charter schools among Michigan residents has declined in the past five years, according a report by the Education Policy Center at MSU.

Drawing on survey data, the report found that 55 percent of respondents favor charter schools. Although still a majority, the figure is lower than a similar survey in 1998 in which 63 percent of respondents in Michigan said they favored charter schools.

“The reality is that charter schools are now an established feature of Michigan’s public school system,” said David Plank, co-director of the center. “But, in some ways, it looks like the bloom is off the flower.

“In 1998, charter schools represented a bold new idea for reforming the system. Today, it’s a different story. Charter schools are not so new anymore, and it appears that fewer residents see them as a promising strategy for improving the quality of Michigan education.”

The survey on which the report was based was part of the most recent MSU Institute for Public Policy and Social Research’s State of the State Survey. A total of 965 telephone interviews were completed using list-assisted, random-dial sampling procedures between June 27 and Aug. 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percent.

In addition to the drop in overall support, there also has been an increase in opposition to charter schools. In 1998, the survey found that 23 percent of Michigan residents opposed charter schools. That figure has increased to 27 percent.

The report, written by analysts Christopher Reimann and Tara Donahue, also breaks down responses by region, community type, income level, family type and racial group. Support for charters is still strongest in Detroit (67 percent), and African Americans continue to be more supportive of charters than whites (64 percent to 59 percent).

Other highlights include:

Support is especially strong among African-American Democrats, who favor charter schools even more than Republicans.
Support for charters is weaker among respondents from the Upper Peninsula, those who have college degrees, and people who earn more than $30,000 a year.

“It’s important to note that support for charter schools remains strongest among those with the most to gain from school choice, including parents with school-aged children and residents of Detroit,” Plank said.

For more information on the Education Policy Center and to read the report, visit the Web at www.epc.msu.edu/