News9/Newson6: Oklahomans rate the state's public schools a C+

As a part of an in-depth series entitled EDUCATE OKLAHOMA, News9 and Newson6 commissioned SoonerPoll to ask Oklahoma likely voters a series of questions to gauge their opinion of public education in our state.

While Oklahomans handed out more "F"s than "A"s in their overall evaluation of public education in the state, the overall mean was a "C+".

[QUESTION] Thinking about K through 12 public education in our state today.  What grade would you give our schools in the quality of education they are providing?

1. A 7.8%
2. B 29.2
3. C 36.9
4. D 17.7
5. F 8.5

Continued – Click here to read and watch the entire News9/Newson6 story

Additional Take-aways from the poll results:

• Democrats were twice as likely to give public education an "A" as Republicans, but Democrats were also more likely to give out more "F"s, 8.9% to 7.4% for Republicans.
• While a plurality of Republicans (42%) gave it a "C", Democrats were nearly split between a "B" and a "C" with 31.7% and 31.1% respectively.
• While self-identified liberals were much more likely to give an "A" than an "F", and very conservatives were more likely to give an "F" than an "A", self-identified moderates and somewhat conservatives were more likely to mirror the overall average of a "C+".
• Results only varied slightly between men and women, but interestingly those voters age 18-34 were more likely to give a "D" grade and rate public schools lower than any other age group.
• No significant differences were observed among those voters who did or did not have children under 18 years old living in their household, but those living in rural areas were more likely to rate public schools higher than those in urban or suburban areas.

About the Poll

SoonerPoll.com, Oklahoma’s public opinion pollster, conducted the poll of Oklahoma likely voters, which was commissioned by News9 and Newson6.

The scientific study was conducted August 4, 2016 with 804 likely Oklahoma voters selected at random statewide from a frame of landline telephone and conducted using IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology. The sample was weighted by age, political party, congressional district and gender in order to reflect the Oklahoma likely voter population for a general election.

The sample reflects the traditional demographical profile of the Oklahoma likely voter with roughly half of respondents identifying as conservative and attending religious services once or more per week. The study has a Margin of Error (MoE) of ±3.46 percent.