Word is beginning to circulate today that part of the Senate's budget proposal will include an increase in class sizes in public schools as a way to save the state $320 million. (Class size reduction has had mixed results at best on student achievement).
We polled increasing average class size from 21 to 23 students in our March survey and found results to be fairly mixed.
In order to close North Carolina’s $2.2 billion budget deficit, do you support or oppose each of the following:
“Save $150 million by increasing public school class sizes by 2 students from 21 to 23?”
Support- 47%
Oppose- 45%
Not Sure- 8%
Interestingly, the proposal is more popular among Democrats, who most would stereotype to be "pro-education" (49-41%) than Republicans who actually are opposed to the class size increase (42-52%).
Unaffiliateds slightly favor the proposal 49-44%.
Our press release on this issue and all the budget proposals we tested is here.
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