Support for school vouchers and education tax credits is on the rise -- and not just among Republicans. The annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on attitudes toward public schools found that 51 percent of Americans now favor the government's paying part or all of a child's private-school bills. That's up from 45 percent in 1994. When asked specifically about vouchers that would pay for tuition, 52 percent favored the idea. And even though vouchers are a pet policy of Republicans, 51 percent of Democrats (and only 47 percent of Republicans) favored vouchers that would pay all of a student's private-school tuition.
A similar story emerges with educational tax credits, another Republican-led reform. The poll showed that 66 percent of Americans favor tax credits that partially cover the cost of sending a child to private school. Tax credits that cover the full cost of private school are less popular -- only 56 percent in favor. Again, more Democrats than Republicans (61 percent to 57 percent) favored full compensation.
This may explain the narrowing "education gap." In 1994, when asked which party was more interested in education, the Democrats had an edge of 17 percentage points; this year it fell to only 11. It looks like Democrats are secretly more supportive of Republican school reforms than Republicans themselves.