Education, jobs remain La. voters’ top priorities, survey says

When Louisiana voters were recently asked which issues they want to see Gov. Bobby Jindal and lawmakers address in the legislative session that kicked off this week, 32% said education and 30% said jobs/economic development. That’s according to the latest statewide survey by Southern Media & Opinion Research Inc., which is conducted twice-annually and is funded by Baton Rouge businessman Lane Grigsby, whose Alliance for Better Classrooms political action committee is very active in education issues. The poll was conducted over a six-day period concluding March 5, and included phone interviews with 600 randomly selected voters in the state. Most respondents blamed a looming state budget deficit on too much spending, while one-third said Louisiana does not have enough revenue. In order to balance the budget, the majority of respondents are opposed to increasing the state income tax, sales tax or business taxes. Among the poll’s other findings:
• 54% said they support charter schools.
• 56% said public-school tax money should follow students to whatever type of school their parents choose.
• 82% said private schools accepting public money in the form of vouchers or scholarships should be held to some kind of accountability standards.
• 82% said the teacher tenure system should be changed from permanent to periodic renewals based on performance.
• 72% agreed with the state’s recently adopted teacher evaluation program in which half of teachers’ annual evaluation is based on student progress.
• 55% opposed abolishing state retirement systems.
See the complete survey results here.