PPIC Statewide Survey: Special Survey on Californians and the Initiative Process, September 2005
September 2005
September 2005
|
Some findings of the current survey
- Californians think that initiatives (39%) should have more influence than the legislature (32%) or governor (18%) over state policy.
- Most residents (74%) feel that initiatives raise important issues that elected officials have not adequately addressed.
- Despite their loyalty, 63% of Californians think the initiative process needs either major (29%) or minor (34%) changes.
- Many residents believe that special interests have too much control over the initiative process (92%), find the ballot wording for initiatives complicated and confusing (77%), and think there are too many propositions on the state ballot (62%).
- Half of state residents say they have less confidence now than before Hurricane Katrina that the government can handle a major terrorist attack (51%) or a major California earthquake (54%).
- 62% of Californians think the nation is headed in the wrong direction.
- November Ballot Measures:
- Proposition 74 (teacher tenure), 43% yes, 47% no
- Proposition 76 (spending and funding limits), 26% yes, 63% no
- Proposition 77 (redistricting), 33% yes, 50% no
- Proposition 78 (prescription drug discounts), 43% yes, 38% no
- Proposition 79 (prescription drug discounts), 34% yes, 40% no
This is the 59th PPIC Statewide Survey and the second in a series of three surveys focusing on Californians and the initiative process. This special survey series is funded by The James Irvine Foundation.
A closer look at PPIC education survey results
Posted: 04/17/2013 09:01:00 PM PDT
Updated: 04/18/2013 02:08:37 PM PDT
Related Stories
The Public Policy Institute of California, or PPIC, released new education survey results Wednesday that showed strong support for Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed Local Control Funding Formula, which would give more money to school districts with a higher percentage of low-income and English learner students. Despite much controversy over perceived "winners and losers" in the debate over how much funding each district should receive, the survey showed that state residents agreed that districts with the neediest students should get more money to educate them, even if that means some other districts would get less money.
Here's a rundown of some of the poll's key findings:
N 74 percent of adults surveyed and 67 percent of likely voters say these students' academic
achievement will improve with more funding.N 66 percent of adults say school districts with low-income students should get more new state funding, even if this means less funding for other districts.
N 76 percent of Californians say preparing students for college is very important.
N 74 percent say it is very important to include career technical education, or vocational courses, in the curriculum.
N 47 percent say they are very concerned that English language learners in California's schools today score lower on standardized tests than other students.
N 51 percent of adults say it is a good idea to lower the vote threshold for passage of local school parcel taxes to 55 percent, while 42 percent say this is a bad idea. Likely voters were less supportive, with 47 percent in favor and 48 percent against this idea.
N 39 percent said high school students in their communities received the "right amount" of testing, compared with 21 percent who said they received too much, 31 percent who said not enough and 9 percent who didn't know.
N 68 percent said teacher evaluations should include academic improvement of students as measured on standardized tests.
N 63 percent said teacher evaluations should include students' academic achievement on standardized tests.
SOURCE: Public Policy Institute of California
The complete survey results are available by visiting www.ppic.org/main. Click on "Publications."
For more details about the poll results, read the On Assignment blog at http://www.ibabuzz.com/onassignment.