Reprinted from the NJEA Reporter, March 2004
Even the folks at E3 must have known it couldn’t be true.
But then again, the truth has never stood in the way of the “voucher movement” in New Jersey.
On two occasions – November 2001 and again in April 2003 – E3 purchased a question on an Eagleton Institute/Rutgers University poll, and on both occasions, claimed more than 60 percent of New Jerseyans support school vouchers.
How could that be true, when voters in every other state overwhelmingly oppose vouchers?
The answer was in the wording of the question: “Would you vote for or against a system of giving parents the option of using government-funded school vouchers to pay for tuition at the public, private or religious school of their choice?”
In November, 2001, NJEA immediately contacted the Eagleton Institute pollster who conducted the survey. He admitted that the question, as worded, did not measure whether New Jerseyans support spending public tax dollars on private and religious schools – the essence of a publicly funded voucher program.
The problem is the inclusion of the word “public,” since there is never likely to be a voucher program in New Jersey – or anywhere else – that allows all students to simply enroll in any public school system in the state.
E3 is engaging in what is called “push-polling” – using a poll question to drive support (false support, in this instance) for its position.
But that doesn’t stop E3 from claiming that “two-thirds of New Jerseyans support vouchers.” Here’s an idea: tell people that by voting for vouchers, they’ll also get free groceries, and a new car. That ought to get support up near the 90 percent level.
Honestly.