September 23, 2025
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A new national poll commissioned by the American Federation for Children finds broad public support for school choice and for a recently enacted federal tax-credit scholarship, with majorities saying they would back pro‑school‑choice candidates in state legislative races.
The 3D Strategic Research survey of 1,000 registered voters, fielded Sept. 6–11, found 73% of respondents say school choice should be open to all families. Fifty-five percent said it should be available regardless of income or geography.
In a head‑to‑head choice for state legislature presented in the poll, 57% of voters said they would vote for a candidate who supports school choice versus 20% who would pick an opponent who opposes it. Twenty‑two percent were undecided.
Support cuts across party lines, the poll found: 70% of Republicans, 51% of Independents, and 47% of Democrats preferred the pro‑school‑choice candidate in the head‑to‑head question. Parents of public school children favored the pro‑choice candidate by 55% to 27%.
The survey also tested reaction to the federal scholarship tax‑credit included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed in July that provides tax credits for donations to nonprofits that award scholarships for private schools, tutoring, and other K‑12 options for states that opt-in.
Initial support for that policy was 58% overall — and 66% among parents — but rose to 64% after respondents heard more details. Nearly two‑thirds favor their state opting into the federal program, while 18% oppose participation.
Support for states opting in was shown across red, blue and purple states: 62% in Republican‑controlled states, 63% in Democratic‑controlled states, and 67% in split states. Among partisan groups, 70% of Republicans, 60% of Independents and 58% of Democrats favored participation. Fifty-three percent of Democratic primary voters backed opting in
“Every state will have school choice soon, and as these results show, that can’t happen soon enough,” said AFC CEO Tommy Schultz in a statement. “Parents are the interest group to which politicians at all levels must respond or face political consequences. As the latest scores from the Nation’s Report Card prove, our nation’s education system is in an undeclared state of emergency and in desperate need of meaningful competition and ways out for students who need it. Thanks to the new federal scholarship tax credit signed into law in July, every state has the opportunity to expand school choice, and governors should act swiftly to opt in as soon as possible.”
Support for school choice remains strong in North Carolina as well. A Carolina Journal poll of likely voters from January put support for the state’s voucher program, the Opportunity Scholarship Program, at 61%. Sixty-percent support public charter schools.
The AFC poll results drop shortly after new national testing data for public school students were released showing a sharp drop in academic performance among the nation’s high school seniors. Twelfth-grade math and reading scores fell to levels not seen in decades, and the gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students widened, according to the new National Assessment of Educational Progress.
David Bass is a senior contributor to the Carolina Journal.
Our system of government, with its multiple layers and separate branches, its freedoms to speak and assemble, is designed not to produce consensus but to manage disagreement, to channel it to productive rather than destructive ends. For too many young people, these are unfamiliar truths. That’s on us.
New national test results released show a sharp drop in academic performance among the nation’s high school seniors, with math and reading scores falling to levels not seen in decades and the gap between the highest- and lowest-performing students widening.
On Tuesday, NC’s Local Government Commission voted in favor of a resolution requiring an outside audit firm to conduct an internal controls audit of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System.
North Carolina’s school‑choice expansion has produced a complicated reality: private schools and education entrepreneurs say there is “room to grow,” yet persistent barriers threaten their ability to meet rising parental demand.
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