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Sunday, April 1, 2012

Voters favor limited city role in schools | UTSanDiego.com

Voters favor limited city role in schools | UTSanDiego.com:


Voters favor limited city role in schools

Poll shows little support for mayor taking control of district

Grading public schools

Grade public schools in SD…A/BCD/F
Total34%3622
Party Registration   
Democrat393814
Republican283432
DTS/Other333622
Region   
West (1, 2)364216
North Central (5, 6, 7)343226
South Central (3, 4, 8, 9)323623
Education   
HS or less412723
Some College284318
College grad323426
Post grad373820
School-Age Children   
Yes482723
No303822
Top Issue   
Economy and Jobs344016
Reforming city pensions283032
Education423418
Mayoral Ballot   
DeMaio233635
Filner393814
Dumanis462421
Fletcher353721
Undecided/DK34381
Nearly three-quarters of San Diego voters believe it’s appropriate to use city resources to improve public education, but about two-thirds oppose the next mayor taking control of the San Diego Unified School District, according to the Center for Education Policy and Law/U-T San Diego Poll.
A solid majority of voters say city schools are struggling but still provide a quality education. Voters also rate San Diego campuses higher than schools nationally and they support charter schools, according to the poll.
Teachers are viewed very favorably. And voters assign blame for school problems to state, federal and local education officials and parents before teachers and teachers unions.
To improve education, voters favor spending money more efficiently, encouraging greater parental involvement and reducing class sizes. They put less emphasis on holding schools more accountable for improved student achievement, raising salaries for the best teachers and decreasing reliance on standardized tests.
Voters in the survey ranked education as one of the top issues facing the mayor and city council.
Debate over whether city government should assume more responsibility of schools intensified when two of four major candidates for mayor of San Diego — District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher — release