A series of polls conducted by Magellan Strategies last week for the Louisiana Federation for Children show that not only is school reform a major winner among statewide voters and those in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge areas, as a poll done for the Friedman Foundation and Pelican Institute for Public Policy released earlier this week demonstrated, but also that North Louisiana voters support it as well.

Specifically, LFC put out three releases on their polls this afternoon. The first…

Eighty-one percent of voters in Louisiana’s East Carroll, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, and West Carroll parishes support school choice and 63 percent favor statewide expansion of the highly successful voucher program in New Orleans, according to a new poll released today by the Louisiana Federation for Children (LFC).

The poll, conducted by Baton Rouge-based Magellan Strategies, found that there is a strong and significant demand for school choice in these northeastern Louisiana parishes; more than 60 percent of respondents support the legislation that would expand the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE) program statewide.

Under the proposed legislation, which last week passed both the state House and Senate Education Committees, students across the state currently attending low-performing schools would be eligible to receive a scholarship to attend a participating private school of their parents’ choice.

In addition to a strong desire for expanded educational options, parish voters also revealed the startling fact that only 5 percent of those surveyed give Louisiana’s public schools an “A” grade, while a mere 8 percent graded their local public schools as an “A.” In total, nearly four out of five parish residents graded Louisiana’s public schools a “C” or lower.

“These results affirm that Louisiana’s voters want to see expanded school choice that spans beyond New Orleans,” said LFC’s Lauren Perry. “We urge legislators to follow the will of their constituents and vote to provide parents with real choices in their child’s education.”

And the second…

Seventy-six percent of voters in Louisiana’s Lincoln and Union parishes support school choice and 59 percent favor statewide expansion of the highly successful voucher program in New Orleans, according to a new poll released today by the Louisiana Federation for Children (LFC).

The poll, conducted by Baton Rouge-based Magellan Strategies, found that there is a strong and significant demand for school choice in Lincoln and Union parishes; almost 60 percent of respondents support the legislation that would expand the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE) program statewide…

In addition to a strong desire for expanded educational options, Lincoln and Union parish voters also revealed the startling fact that only 6 percent of those surveyed give Louisiana’s public schools an “A” grade, while a mere 10 percent graded their local public schools in Lincoln and Union parishes as an “A.” In total, three out of four parish residents graded Louisiana’s public schools a “C” or lower.

And the third…

Eighty percent of voters in Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Red River, and Winn parishes support school choice and 58 percent favor statewide expansion of the highly successful voucher program in New Orleans, according to a new poll released today by the Louisiana Federation for Children (LFC).

The poll, conducted by Baton Rouge-based Magellan Strategies, found that there is a strong and significant demand for school choice in these Louisiana parishes; almost 60 percent of respondents support the legislation that would expand the Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEE) program statewide…

In addition to a strong desire for expanded educational options, parish voters also revealed the startling fact that that only 7 percent of those surveyed give Louisiana’s public schools an “A” grade, while a mere 10 percent graded their local public schools as an “A.” In total, more than 6 in 10 parish residents graded their local public schools, as well as Louisiana’s public schools, as a “C” or lower.

Those are pretty significant numbers. The establishment is virtually certain to call these polls push-polls. But it’s hard to deny the results when you start getting 76 percent, 81 percent and so on.

Like we said two days ago, there is a reason why Gov. Bobby Jindal is pushing this package as hard as he is – and that is because it’s what Louisianans want. People in this state are tired of crappy public schools and they’re even more tired of hearing they don’t pay enough taxes to support the current system. Instead, they’ve been ready for a very long time to blow up that system and start over – which isn’t really what this package is about, but even if the establishment types were right that this would “destroy public education,” that prospect isn’t all that unpopular around here.

Nor should it be. When you’re 22nd in per-student spending and 47th in outcomes, people aren’t going to be interested in keeping things as they are.