Does polling portend problems for school levy vote?

Posted at 4:30 PM on November 3, 2011 by Paul Tosto
Filed under: Education, Politics, Taxes

Bill Morris does a lot of polling and analysis for Minnesota school districts. Superintendents and school board members pay a lot of attention to what his surveys reveal about voter attitudes on education.

We weren't able to reach him today. But we did find some data he produced this summer for the Association of Metropolitan School Districts that's worth examining.

If what he found this summer holds next week, election day could be a tough one for many districts.

While 36 percent of Minnesotans are feeling "somewhat better" about Minnesota education, " the number who believe it is getting worse has doubled compared to past surveys" Morris told AMSD.





The surveys also found 61 percent of Minnesotans see revenue as a "problem" in education but only about 18 percent were OK with a local tax increase to solve it.








The toughest hurdle, though, might be the generally grim feeling people still have about the economy.





Morris told AMSD in August that it was the first time since he began asking the question that the "getting worse" response was now larger than the response "about the same."

Read all of Morris' slides here.