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  january 16, 2007
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campus newS

Topping the polls
Education still top issue on Georgians’ minds
By Ann Allen
allen@cviog.uga.edu
Education remains the issue that Georgians most want their state government to address, according to the latest Peach State Poll, a quarterly survey of public opinion conducted by the university’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

In an open-ended question asking what is the most important problem facing the state of Georgia today, education was cited by a plurality of Georgians expressing an opinion (23 percent); the economy was second (12 percent), followed by immigration (9 percent) and crime (9 percent). Thirty percent of those with children in the public school system cited education as the most important issue facing the state. Education was the issue most frequently cited by nearly all segments of the population—whites, blacks, men, women,
Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

The poll also found that the public sees a major role for the state in providing p ostsecondary education. College education is no longer seen as a luxury for the children of elites: 60 percent of the public believe that a college education at a public institution is a right of all Georgians, while only 37 percent see it as a privilege for students with the best grades and test scores. In addition, 58 percent view college education as a key for success that should be obtained at any cost.

Other Peach State Poll results:
• Georgia’s higher education system is rated as excellent by 17 percent of the public and as good by 52 percent. Only 4 percent of the public rate Georgia K-12 public schools as excellent, and 36 percent rate them as good.
• In the area of health care, 75 percent of the public want to see government spending on health care increased. Those who rely on the government for health insurance express levels of satisfaction with their coverage equal to or greater than those for whom health insurance is provided through their employer.
• In regard to the environment, Georgians favor protecting water quality over protecting private property rights when the two are in competition. Sixty-five percent of the general public believe that the government has the responsibility to regulate use of private property to ensure water quality in an area.
 


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