ERIC Number: ED404749
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996-Aug
Pages: 23
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Public School Choice Initiatives: Perceptions of Business/Industrial Leaders and School Board Members.
Livingston, Martha J.; DeSpain, B. C.
Parents have the legal right to send their children to private schools. This paper presents findings of a survey that compared the opinions of sitting school board presidents (n=1,500) with those of Chamber of Commerce executives (n=1,300) across the United States. The survey asked each group about their attitudes toward charter schools, privatization, and vouchers. Chamber of Commerce respondents, who were members of the business community, were more positive than school board members in their support for charter schools, privatization, and vouchers. The majority of the business leaders favored expanding charters to private schools, while the majority of board members opposed expansion. Chamber of Commerce members believed that educational changes should be driven from outside the school system, and board members expressed support for the status quo. Board members believed that public schools could improve through internal measures. The majority of school board members disagreed with voucher options that would allow students to attend any school, allow students to attend schools in surrounding school districts, and allow students to attend religious schools. (Contains 11 references, 8 tables, and 1 figure.) (LMI)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (Corpus Christi, TX, August 6-10, 1996).