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Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education

By Mark Baldassare, Lunna Lopes, Dean Bonner, David Kordus

A solid majority of Californians favor tax-funded vouchers that would allow parents to send their children to any school they choose. At the same time, most rate the quality of their local public schools positively and view state funding for public schools as inadequate. Many are concerned about the impact of increased federal immigration enforcement efforts on undocumented public school students and their families.

Crosstabs:
All Adults [PDF]
Likely Voters [PDF]

Time Trends:
All Adults [PDF]
Likely Voters [PDF]

This research was supported with funding from the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Silver Giving Foundation, and the Stuart Foundation.

Statewide Survey

Facing Facts: Public Attitudes and Fiscal Realities in Five Stressed States

A survey in five of the nation’s most fiscally stressed states reveals a disconnect between what the public wants from state government and budget realities. Residents in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, and New York believe their states could spend less without cutting services. They want to protect K-12 education and Medicaid funding—by far the biggest portions of state budgets. They prefer charging someone else— wealthy corporations, smokers, drinkers, and gamblers—to ensure essential government services. But even these increases would likely be insufficient to close severe budget gaps.

This survey was co-published by the Pew Center on the States and Public Policy Institute of California. Any text or graphics taken from the multistate survey should jointly credit the Pew Center on the States and Public Policy Institute of California, 2010.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Californians and the Environment

By Mark Baldassare

This is the twenty-sixth PPIC Statewide Survey and the third in a new series that will focus on population growth, land use, and the environment. The current survey focuses in particular on public perceptions, individual actions, and policy preferences relating to environmental issues.

Some findings of the current survey:

  • Most residents believe little progress has been made in solving environmental problems over the past twenty years, and they are pessimistic about improvements in the future: 78% believe there has been only some or hardly any progress since the early 1980s, and 79% have only some or hardly any optimism that environmental problems will be under control 20 years from now.
  • Nearly half of all adult Californians (49%) have little or no confidence in government to understand and solve today's environmental problems.
  • A solid majority (62%) believe that there is enough evidence that global climate change is real and that some action is warranted.
  • 59% say policymakers should not allow more oil drilling off the California coast, even if this means higher gasoline prices for California drivers.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Nicole Willcoxon

Some findings of the current survey:

  • 62 percent of Californians are very concerned the state budget gap will cause significant spending cuts in K–12 education.
  • Three-fourths (74%) of Californians say that improving education should be a high priority for the next governor.
  • Governor Schwarzenegger’s job approval rating of 24 percent matches his record low, while President Obama’s approval rating stands at 61 percent.

Job Approval Ratings:
President Obama
[PDF]
Governor Schwarzenegger
[PDF]
California State Legislature
[PDF]

Time Trends of Job Approval Ratings:
President Obama
[XLS]
Governor Schwarzenegger [XLS]
California State Legislature [XLS]
 
This survey was supported with funding from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
 

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Education

By Mark Baldassare, Jennifer Paluch, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek

Some findings of the current survey:

  • Most Californians today (80%) believe the quality of the state’s K-12 education system is at least somewhat of a problem, with about half (52%) calling it a big problem.
  • Forty-four percent of blacks say the quality of education has worsened in the past two years compared to just 28 percent of whites, 21 percent of Latinos, and 20 percent of Asians.
  • Most state residents (78%) would prefer to see local, rather than state, decision-making when it comes to allocating school resources—specifically, teachers (34%) and local school districts (31%).

This is the 76th PPIC Statewide Survey and the sixth in a three-year survey series funded by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation focusing on education, environment, and population issues.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Californians and Information Technology

By Mark Baldassare, Dean Bonner, Sonja Petek, Jui Shrestha

Some findings of the current survey:

  • The share of Californians using a cell phone to access the Internet has doubled in three years, from 19 to 40 percent.
  • Surfing the web via cell phone is up for all racial and ethnic groups.
  • Forty-one percent of residents in the San Francisco Bay Area use cell phones to work remotely; 31 percent in Los Angeles and 24 percent in the Central Valley do so.

Mood of Californians:
General Direction of Things in California [PDF]
Economic Outlook for California [PDF]

Time Trends for the Mood of Californians:
General Direction of Things in California [XLS]
Economic Outlook for California [XLS]

This survey was supported with funding from the California Emerging Technology Fund and ZeroDivide.

Statewide Survey

PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Californians and Their Housing

By Mark Baldassare

Some findings of the current survey

  • 84% of Californians say that home values in their region have increased a lot in recent years.
  • 55% consider the availability of housing a big problem.
  • 77% say they are at least somewhat concerned that the cost of housing will prevent the younger generation in their family from buying a home in their region of the state.
  • Homeownership represents a profound dividing line between the “haves” and “have nots”: Majorities of whites (71%) and Asians (59%) own their homes; majorities of Latinos (55%) and blacks (51%) are renters. The likelihood of owning a home increases sharply with age, income, and education.
  • Homeowners are far more likely than renters to say they are very satisfied with their housing (75% to 34%) and community (65% to 41%).
  • Although 86% of renters in California hold onto the hope of being homeowners someday, only 18% believe it is very likely and 49% somewhat likely that they will find a home they can afford.

This is the 52nd PPIC Statewide Survey and the last in a current series of eight surveys examining public perceptions, policy preferences, and political choices relating to population growth, land use, and the environment.

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