PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education
Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Jennifer Paluch, and Sonja Petek

April 2008

Some findings of the current survey:

• More than half (53%) of the state’s residents say the quality of K-12 public schools is a major problem.
• Blacks (72%) and whites (60%) are much more likely than Latinos (42%) and Asians (38%) to say that educational quality is a big problem.
• But more than half of Californians (54%) give their public schools an A (18%) or B (36%). Among public school parents, 27 percent give an A and 40 percent a B.
• A strong majority (60%) of Californians choose K-12 public education as the area they would like to protect from budget cuts.

This is the 85th PPIC Statewide Survey. It is part of a series covering K-12, higher education, environment, and population issues. This survey includes the responses of 2,502 Californians and is supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.