Less than a third of North Carolina residents support the idea of higher taxes to support public schools, according to a recent Catawba College-YouGov survey.
“Just 27% of North Carolinians agree the state should raise taxes to increase public school funding, while 47% disagree,” writes the John Locke Foundation’s Carolina Journal. “Democrats are the most supportive of any partisan group at 43%, but that falls short of a majority. Nearly half of independents, 47%, and two-thirds of Republicans, 67%, oppose the idea.”
Robert Luebke, the foundation’s director of the Center for Effective Education, said the results highlight the “painful and everyday reality” taxpayers are facing.
“North Carolinians are tired of rising prices,” he said. “They see gas and grocery prices going up.”
Against this economic backdrop, saddling families with even higher tax burdens will further damage public education over the long term, according to Luebke.
“The reservoir of good will and trust the public schools enjoyed is eroding,” he concluded. “The growing popularity of charter schools and the Opportunity Scholarship Programs points to that.”
