The AFT released a new HART survey of parental attitudes towards prevailing education policies.

Here’s your sample:

“This national survey consisted of interviews with 1,003 public school parents
(parents with children who attend a regular public school and/or a charter public school), with a margin of error on survey results at ±3.1 percentage points. The interviews were conducted by telephone, both landline and cell, from July 9-14, 2013.

More specific this time. Ok. I don’t know. Am I now looking at this with less skepticism because the results confirm my own attitudes, or comport with what I’d like to see? Perhaps.

But when I read surveys such as these, I clamor for more. What I really want is some extensive QUALITATIVE research, or at least a mixed-methods design where more extensive follow-up interviews are conducted with a randomly selected sub-group of parents. Let them tease apart their thinking and explain their vision of public education in their own words.

With questions like these:

“APPROACH A) We should focus on ensuring that every child has access to a good public school in their community. We need to make the investments needed to ensure all schools provide safe conditions, an enriching curriculum, support for students’ social and emotional development, and effective teachers. (77% agree)

APPROACH B) We should open more public charter schools and provide more vouchers that allow parents to send their children to private schools at public expense. Children will receive the best education if we give families the financial freedom to attend schools that meet their needs. (20% agree)

I don’t know, it all seems just so suggestible, doesn’t it? I know what they’re getting at here, but to choose between these two options, I don’t know what this is supposed to tell me. It’s very easy to use certain word choices to push a respondent one way or the other. Check out the full report below and tell us what you think.