Majority of US parents choose public schools

Majority of US parents choose public schools

WASHINGTON — Eighty-five percent of parents in the United States choose to send their children to public schools. That was the finding of a Gallup Poll research study released Aug. 28. The finding was based on a survey of more than 4,500 parents across the nation.

Among parents who attend church weekly the percentage of parents who chose public schools for their children dropped to 78 percent, the lowest percentage of any of the subgroups studied. Parents from households with an annual income of $75,000 or more chose public schools 79 percent of the time, the report said. Parents who considered themselves Republicans sent their children to public schools 81 percent of the time.

Parents who are weekly churchgoers chose private schools 11 percent of the time compared to nine percent of all U.S. parents. Parochial schools were the choice of 5 percent of weekly church attending parents. Home schooling was the choice of four percent of such parents.

Nationally, 3 percent of all parents chose parochial schools, the same number that opted for home schooling. (TAB)