Expected Impact of voucher, ESA, or other "school choice" program on the quality of the public school system in Texas (October 2023)

Expected Impact of voucher, ESA, or other "school choice" program on the quality of the public school system in Texas (October 2023)

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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?"
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categoryTotal
Large positive impact28%
Small positive impact21%
No impact11%
Small negative impact7%
Large negative impact20%
Don't know/No opinion12%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Measurement of Party ID for this figure is based on two questions. First, respondents were asked whether they consider themselves to be a Democrats, Republicans, independents, other, or not sure. Those who responded that they are independents or "other" were then asked if they lean toward either the Democrats or Republicans. If they indicated that they lean toward one party or the other, they are considered Democrats or Republicans for the purposes of this figure. Only "pure" independents or members of a third party who indicate that they have no preference for Democrats vis-a-vis Republicans are considered independents. Respondents who answered that they are "not sure" for either of the two aforementioned questions are not incorporated into this figure.
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CategoryDemocratIndependentRepublican
Large positive impact21%23%33%
Small positive impact16%18%26%
No impact8%19%13%
Small negative impact6%9%7%
Large negative impact38%22%8%
Don't know/No opinion12%10%12%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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CategoryLean DemocratNot very strong DemocratStrong Democrat
Large positive impact19%27%18%
Small positive impact9%21%17%
No impact7%11%6%
Small negative impact9%8%4%
Large negative impact51%22%38%
Don't know/No opinion5%11%16%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Party identification is calculated according to the PID7 variable, a seven point scale of party identification.
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CategoryLean RepublicanNot very strong RepublicanStrong Republican
Large positive impact34%24%38%
Small positive impact27%28%24%
No impact10%16%14%
Small negative impact10%5%6%
Large negative impact9%11%7%
Don't know/No opinion10%16%12%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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CategoryLiberalsModeratesConservatives
Large positive impact16%29%36%
Small positive impact19%23%21%
No impact8%12%14%
Small negative impact5%8%8%
Large negative impact41%15%8%
Don't know/No opinion11%14%12%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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CategoryLean liberalSomewhat liberalExtremely liberal
Large positive impact11%18%17%
Small positive impact16%23%16%
No impact12%8%4%
Small negative impact10%5%2%
Large negative impact43%39%44%
Don't know/No opinion8%8%18%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Ideology is measured on a scale of 1-7, with 1 corresponding to "extremely liberal", 7 corresponding to "extremely conservative, and 4 corresponding to "in the middle." For the purposes of this table, respondents who placed themselves at or between points 1 and 3 on the scale are considered "liberal," respondents who placed themselves at point 4 on the scale are considered "moderate," and respondents who placed themselves at or between points 5 and 7 on the scale are considered conservative.
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CategoryLean conservativeSomewhat conservativeExtremely conservative
Large positive impact29%35%42%
Small positive impact25%22%18%
No impact13%13%17%
Small negative impact12%6%8%
Large negative impact12%11%3%
Don't know/No opinion9%14%12%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Race is calculated according to the race variable.
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CategoryWhiteBlackHispanic
Large positive impact27%39%23%
Small positive impact23%16%22%
No impact10%9%15%
Small negative impact7%10%5%
Large negative impact21%19%20%
Don't know/No opinion12%8%14%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Gender is calculated according to the GENDER variable.
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CategoryMaleFemale
Large positive impact30%26%
Small positive impact25%18%
No impact13%10%
Small negative impact7%7%
Large negative impact20%21%
Don't know/No opinion5%18%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Community type is based on the following question, " Would you say that you live in an urban, suburban, or rural community?"
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CategoryUrbanSuburbanRural
Large positive impact32%26%23%
Small positive impact23%20%22%
No impact12%11%12%
Small negative impact7%8%7%
Large negative impact17%23%20%
Don't know/No opinion10%12%17%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Age is calculated according to the AGEG variable.
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Category18-2930-4445-6465+
Large positive impact33%36%24%21%
Small positive impact33%20%17%19%
No impact9%10%13%12%
Small negative impact5%6%9%8%
Large negative impact9%18%25%25%
Don't know/No opinion11%10%12%14%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Education is calculated according to the EDUC variable.
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CategoryNo HSHigh school graduateSome college2-year4-yearPost-grad
Large positive impact30%27%25%43%26%25%
Small positive impact28%21%22%14%24%18%
No impact19%13%12%7%12%9%
Small negative impact5%6%6%9%10%5%
Large negative impact2%15%18%18%21%41%
Don't know/No opinion16%18%17%11%7%2%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Religiosity is calculated according to the IMPORT variable.
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CategoryExtremely importantSomewhat importantNot very importantNot at all important
Large positive impact36%26%24%13%
Small positive impact22%23%22%14%
No impact13%12%10%10%
Small negative impact8%7%9%4%
Large negative impact10%19%31%43%
Don't know/No opinion12%13%5%16%
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    Respondents were asked, "Regardless of whether you support or oppose the state of Texas establishing a voucher, educational savings account (ESA), or other “school choice” program, do you think it would have a positive impact, negative impact, or no impact on each of the following...The quality of the public school system in Texas?" Fundamentalism is calculated according to the LITERAL variable.
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CategoryThe Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word.The Bible is the word of God but not everything in it should be taken literally, word for word.The Bible is a book written by men and is not the word of God.Don't know.
Large positive impact38%27%15%27%
Small positive impact24%23%11%24%
No impact13%10%10%17%
Small negative impact6%10%4%6%
Large negative impact7%17%51%11%
Don't know/No opinion13%13%9%14%

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