K–12 | Daily Report

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The budget crisis' impact on education has caused concern to swell and public opinion to shrink among a majority of Californians.

Roughly 62 percent believe insufficient state funding is going to their public school, a 12 point jump from last year, according to the results of a survey released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Eighty-five percent believe the quality of education is a problem. Fifty-two percent felt it is a "big" problem.

Those surveyed by the PPIC also thought Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state officials were performing poorly on education issues. Gov. Schwarzenegger received a 16 percent approval rating, while the Legislature in general hovered at 14 percent, the lowest scores in three years, according to the report. 

Majorities across regions and across age, education, income, and racial/ethnic groups – as well as 73 percent of public school parents – disapprove of the way the governor is handling the state’s K–12 public education system.

The sour mood doesn't stop at the state level either. Californians thought the Obama administration was lagging on education as well. One part of the study says:

While his (Obama's) overall approval rating (61 percent) remains much higher than those of Sacramento officials, Californians give him a much lower rating for his handling of K–12 education policy. Less than half (46 percent) approve – a 12-point decline since last year – while 28 percent disapprove and 26 percent have no opinion. A majority of Californians (59 percent) say the federal government is not doing enough to improve the K-12 education system (25 percent just enough, 7 percent more than enough).

Overall, the survey concluded that most Californians favored protecting schools from budget cuts. Participants to the study also prefered paying teachers based on merit and collecting data to develop school policy, the report stated.

The PPIC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank focused on issues effecting public policy. The organization based in San Francisco.

For more info about the survey, click here.