The New Jersey Children’s Foundation released a new poll from Public Opinion Strategies, one of the nation’s leading public opinion political research firms, showing support for Newark’s public charter schools is stronger than ever.

According to the poll, which surveyed 200 registered Newark voters in both English and Spanish, 65 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of Newark’s public charter schools – up 6 points from an identical survey conducted a year ago. Support is strongest among parents; 75 percent of parents view charters favorably.

55 percent of Newark voters — and 69 percent of parents— favor increasing the number of public charter schools in the city, compared with just 29 percent (and 24 percent of parents) who oppose charter expansion. By a sixteen point margin, voters would support a candidate for local office who would increase the number of public charters in Newark.

“Schools in Newark have been through a lot over the last three years, but support for Newark’s public charter schools has gotten even stronger over that time,” said Kyle Rosenkrans, Executive Director ofthe New Jersey Children’s Foundation. “We’ve consistently said that families in Newark are best served by a system where all high-quality public schools are allowed to grow and thrive, and where educators work together to do what’s best for kids. In the post-pandemic world, that’s more important than ever.”

Other findings from the poll include:

• Seventy percent (70%) of voters say local public schools need to change. These voters say that the main changes needed include better funding/resources and improved school safety
• Among voters who know enough to rate public charter schools, they are most likely to be described as caring “about the Newark community,” “open to all,” and “an important part of the public school options in [the] community.”
• A clear majority (57%) of Newark voters say that there are more high-quality schooloptions available to Newark now compared to ten years ago. This holds true across
  partisan lines and among voters of color.

These findings come on the heels of an NJCF poll conducted by Change Research in December 2021 showing a steady increase in the percentage of Newark voters saying that charter schools are an important part of the public school landscape in the city from 59% in 2019 to 62% in 2021.