New NSBA Poll Finds Voters
Disapprove of Federal Spending Priorities, Want Congress to Deliver on Education Funding Promises
Thursday, May 25, 2006
The National School Boards Association

Alexandria, VA – As members of Congress prepare to head home for the Memorial Day Holiday, a national poll from the National School Boards Association finds a majority of likely voters believe that Congress is out of touch with the public’s expectations when it comes to funding federal education programs and want Congress to fulfill its funding commitment to schoolchildren. Further, voters say they will be considering Congressional members’ voting record on education funding when they go to the polls in November.

The poll indicates that voters are dissatisfied with Washington politicians with 57 percent saying they disapprove of President Bush’s job performance, 58 percent disapproving of the job by Congressional Republicans, and 54 percent disapproving of the job by Congressional Democrats.

Nearly three of four likely voters think Congress is not doing a good job setting spending priorities and needs to make changes in priorities. And nearly 88 percent of those polled think that if Congress can spend billions on wasteful pork-barrel projects, then they can afford to fulfill their promises on funding federal education programs.

“This poll clearly shows that the American public is fed up with Congress’s inability to deliver on its continued promises of federal education funding,” said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director. “In fact, nearly 85 percent of voters in this poll believe that Congress is cheating our children and is jeopardizing our country’s economic future if it leaves education programs unfunded or underfunded. If that’s not a mandate from the public, then I don’t know what is.”

There is a significant disconnect between the current federal investment in education funding and what voters think is spent and want spent. On average, voters believe that 20 percent of the federal budget is currently spent on K-12 education, but they want 37 percent of the budget spent on it. Both are a far cry from the 1.5 percent actually spent on K-12 education. Even Republican voters want 33 percent of the federal budget spent on education.
While Congress has authorized next year’s spending for Title I at $25 billion and the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) at $16.9 billion, it continues to fall short of fulfilling these commitments. In the budget before Congress, Title I (which is the major source of funds for the No Child Left Behind Act) would be funded at $12.7 billion, and IDEA at $10.7 billion, which represents a collective shortfall of $18.5 billion below promised levels.

Seven in 10 likely voters (70 percent) say that Congress should restore funding for No Child Left Behind and special education programs in next year’s budget to the authorized levels. Even Republicans support restoring funding by more than a 2-to-1 margin.

“Congress better wake up and smell the bacon because the public already has,” said E. Jane Gallucci, NSBA president. “Clearly, voters support Congress shifting money from pork-barrel projects to fund the education programs it has imposed on local schools.”

The NSBA poll indicates there could be a significant political price for not restoring the promised education funding. Overall, 59 percent of voters say that they would be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who voted against restoring funding. Sixty-one percent of voters would be more likely to vote for a member of Congress who voted to restore funding to the authorized and promised levels. This sentiment cuts across party lines as a majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents were in agreement.

“With high disapproval ratings across the board, Congress can avoid picking a fight with voters by simply fulfilling its education funding commitments, which would mean reallocating less than 1 percent of the overall federal budget,” said Michael A. Resnick, NSBA associate executive director.

“Neither party, especially the GOP, can afford to be seen as backing away from their promised funding to education programs given the sour mood of the electorate and the overwhelming support for restoring funding levels on key education programs,” said Tony Fabrizio, of Fabrizio, McLaughlin and Associates, the firm that carried out the NSBA poll. “These voters have little confidence in Congress or their abilities to set the right budget priorities and they appear more than willing to punish members who are unwilling to live up to education funding promises and reward those who do.”

The poll surveyed 1,200 likely general election voters by telephone May 15-17, 2006. The margin of error is +/- 2.8 percentage points. Complete polling results will be available to the public at www.nsba.org on May 24, 2006.

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Major NSBA Poll Findings

1. Which of the following statements regarding Congress and the federal budget do you agree with most?

13% Congress does a good job of setting priorities for the federal budget and spending and there is no need to change the priorities Congress sets.
74% Congress does not do a good job of setting priorities for the federal budget and spending and there is a definite need to change the priorities Congress sets.
4% Both
3% Neither
7% Don’t Know/Refused

2. Now I’m going to tell you about a budgeting issue now before Congress. After I am finished, I am going to ask you what you think should be done.

The budget issue involves federal spending on education programs. Specifically, Congress authorized spending $42 billion dollars next year to fund two of the largest federal education programs that aid public schools across the country – the No Child Left Behind Act and Special Education. However in the current budget proposal, Congress is providing only $23 billion for these two programs —a little more than half of the $42 billion they originally authorized and promised.

Hearing that, what, in your opinion should Congress do?

70% Restore the funding for these education programs back to their authorized and promised levels for next year.
19% Keep the proposed spending cuts for these education programs in place for next year regardless of what was originally authorized and promised
11% Don’t Know/Refused

3. If you had to guess, what percentage of the federal budget would you say is spent on education programs for public elementary, middle and high schools?

20.06% = MEAN

4. Regardless of what percentage of the federal budget you think is spent on education programs for public elementary, middle and high schools, please tell me what percentage in your opinion should be spent?

36.64% = MEAN

5. If you knew that your Congressman or Congresswoman voted against restoring funding for these two education programs to their authorized and promised levels would that make you more or less likely to vote for them? If it wouldn’t impact your vote, just say so.

10% More likely to vote for them
59% Less likely to vote for them
24% No impact on vote
8% Don’t Know/Refused

6. If you knew that your Congressman or Congresswoman voted for restoring funding for these two education programs to their authorized and promised levels would that make you more or less likely to vote for them? If it wouldn’t impact your vote, just say so.

61% More likely to vote for them
11% Less likely to vote for them
22% No impact on vote
7% Don’t Know/Refused

7. I’m going to read you some statements and please tell me if you agree or disagree with each one. “If Congress can vote to spend $29 billion dollars on pork barrel projects like building a teapot museum, they can certainly afford to live up to their commitments and fund the education programs they impose on local schools.”

87.8% Agree
6.9% Disagree

8. I’m going to read you some statements and please tell me if you agree or disagree with each one. “If Congress leaves these education programs unfunded or even underfunded, it cheats our children and jeopardizes our country’s economic future. We must equip our students with knowledge and skills to compete successfully in the new global economy and information age.”

84.6% Agree
10.5% Disagree