Giving Compass' Take:

· Education Dive reports on the May 2018 Education Next Survey of Public Opinion showing that a majority of the public favors school choice and supports having a wider choice of school options with financial assistance from the government.

· What opportunities does school choice provide? Is it beneficial and equal for all students? What does it mean for school systems? 

· Read more on school choice and the rise of public support.

School choice is having a good year, a development made all the more notable considering the unbridled endorsement of the concept by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Despite ongoing criticism of DeVos by teacher union officials and Democratic politicians, support for universal school vouchers and charter schools is higher than it was in 2017. Opposition to vouchers has fallen from 37% to 31%. African-American and Hispanic respondents are more favorably disposed (56% and 62%, respectively) toward vouchers for low-income families than are white respondents (35%).

An article in The Atlantic, meanwhile, notes that the exact degree of support for the programs the poll asked about varied based upon how the questions were phrased. Specifically, the word "vouchers" had a chilling effect. It carries a negative connotation compared to more generic phrasing. The except ionis when the word is used in direct connection to low-income students, in which case the difference in perception was negligible.

Read the full article about school choice by Christina Vercelletto at Education Dive.