Across a broad range of subjects, in Rhode Island, an observer can get the impression that there are some gears missing from the machine of representative democracy.  Our civic system — broadened to include the news media and educational facilities — isn’t giving people an adequate or accurate understanding of the issues of the day.  Consequently, Rhode Islanders have come to feel that they simply can’t make significant changes to the way governments operate, here, whether because they see no alternative or because they just don’t feel they have the right to modify things.

Some of the most interesting findings in a poll of Rhode Islanders that the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice has just released in coordination with the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, which has elaborated on the results, have to do with the effect of more information on people’s opinions.

Rhode Islanders — especially those with school-aged children — have a very negative view of the state’s public school system.  Just 2.3% would grade it as “excellent”; the majority wouldn’t even go so far as to call it “good.”  Those with school-aged children are more likely than the general population to say that the system is on the “wrong track.”  In fact, at 60% negative, Rhode Island parents are more pessimistic than any parents (or public) in the 20 states in which Friedman asked the “right direction/wrong track” question.

If they could choose any school for their children, 54% of Rhode Islanders would choose a private school, compared with 29% who would choose a regular public school.  Of the 21 states in which Friedman has asked this question, people in only eight of them were more likely to choose private schools over public schools, and Rhode Island is the only one in which that percentage was over 50%.  It also had the lowest public school percentage (tied with New York), and the greatest gap between the two.

It isn’t surprising, then, that when Rhode Islanders think of schools in their area, they give As or Bs 67% of the time to private schools, but only 43% of the time to regular public schools.  And most of those public school grades are Bs; Rhode Islanders are actually more likely to grade local public schools at a D than an A.

All of these responses were based on a belief that public schools cost less than they actually do.  More than half of Rhode Islanders underestimate the per-student costs of Rhode Island’s public schools, with only 20% choosing the correct range or overestimating.  Indeed, about a third estimate per student spending below $8,000 per year, whereas Friedman estimates it at $13,815.

When told the actual cost, public opinion shifts from a majority thinking spending is “too low” to a majority thinking it’s “about right,” with an almost even split between “too low” and “too high.” As the following chart from the Center’s report shows, the percentage of parents — those more likely to have actual experience with the state’s public schools and a general sense of other education options — who say that spending is “too high” more than doubles when they learn how much is actually spent.

A similar shift happens when the interviewer asks for opinions about school vouchers — which are the same as the scholarships for which legislation was submitted in the General Assembly last session.  Initially, 39.7% of respondents said that they “favor” them; after the interviewer had described what they do, support grew to 56.3%, with “strongly favor” gaining ground more than “somewhat favor.”  Informed support from parents surpassed 60%.

It’s interesting to note, as well, that 62% of respondents — and 64% of those with household incomes under $40,000 — agreed with the statement that vouchers “should be available to all families, regardless of incomes and special needs.”  This suggests that, at least when it comes to education, Rhode Islanders do not think of fairness in terms of redistribution of wealth, but in terms of equal treatment for all.

Most encouraging, though, the results of the survey suggest that renewed hope for the people of Rhode Island — parents, children, and those connected to the state’s economy and culture — is not far beyond reach. Rhode Islanders just need to begin seeing all of the ways in which we educate our children as the “education system” in which we’re investing, not just the government-branded schools under the control of the Department of Education and the General Assembly.

Rhode Islanders are aware of the state’s problems, and the solutions are largely a matter of common sense.  Mainly what we need to realize is that we do have a right to change the way our state does business and the rules by which it forces us to live and raise our children.