Two polls find Tennessee voters are less enthusiastic about high-profile public education changes than the lawmakers approving them

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This week, two of the leading providers of public polling in Tennessee released their spring statewide poll of voters’ opinions on a variety of issues, including education.

The poll from Vanderbilt University surveyed 1,223 registered voters in late April, while the Beacon Center’s poll reached out to 1,200 voters from April 8 through April 23.

Both polls asked voters for their support of key education policies that have been backed this year by Republican leaders, including President Trump and Governor Bill Lee.

The Vanderbilt poll followed other recent polling that identified education as among voters’ top issues, with 18 percent listing it as the top priority for state government, closely following the economy at 19 percent.

Vanderbilt poll finds few public-school parents planning to use Education Freedom Scholarships

Governor Lee’s education priority this year was the passage of the Education Freedom Scholarship Act, that will allow families to use public dollars to send their kids to private school.  The Vanderbilt poll found little enthusiasm from public school parents to use the new education option.

Just 8 percent of public-school parents polled said they plan to use the new program to switch their children to private school, while 70 percent said they plan to keep their kids in public school. Conversely, the plan is seeing more immediate interest from private school parents, as 34 percent told Vanderbilt pollsters that they do plan to apply for the Education Freedom Scholarship.  19 percent of parents in each category haven’t decided.

Polling results by Vanderbilt University

The Vanderbilt poll also found low support for President Trump’s decision to lift restrictions on immigration authorities going into public schools to apprehend undocumented people.  Just 35 percent of voters support the change while 57 percent oppose it.

Voters send mixed messages on dissolving the Department of Education in Beacon Poll

The Beacon poll asked voters’ opinions on another education change favored by President Trump and Governor Lee, and they provided mixed messages.

Both Republican leaders favor dissolving the U.S. Department of Education and returning decision-making on education funding back to the states. The Beacon poll found 50 percent of voters support this plan compared to 37 percent who oppose it and 13 percent who are unsure.

Despite that response, just 37 percent of voters have an unfavorable opinion of the U.S. Department of Education, and a plurality (40 percent) have a favorable opinion in the poll.

Polling results by the Beacon Center

Relatedly, 47 percent of those surveyed in the Beacon poll expressed that they are satisfied with the way things are going in K-12 public education, compared to 42 percent who said they are dissatisfied.

Neither poll asked voters their thoughts on next year’s gubernatorial race, but voters did express a positive response to one potential candidate.

In both polls, 51 percent of voters said they approve of the job U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn is doing, compared to 38 percent who said they disapprove in the Beacon poll and 46 percent in the Vanderbilt Poll.

Neither poll asked about the candidate Blackburn would face in the Republican Primary, U.S. Congressman John Rose, if she does decide to run as expected.