Choice matters most to parents

The Charlotte Observer recently ran a column featuring Elon University poll results, confirming what we already know: parents want more school choice.  

Among the poll's findings:

• More than 63 percent of people surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that parents should be able to choose the school for their child;
• 63 percent favor the idea of using a lottery to determine who can attend a specific school when there are too many applicants; and
• Nearly 66 percent said it was more important to have schools closer to home, but with less diversity, than having schools farther from home with more diversity.

As we have noted before, the primary concern for most parents is not just the diversity of their children's classrooms, but the quality of education within them.  With 86.5 percent of poll respondents in Mecklenburg County citing strong academics as the most important attribute of a school, it seems parents are heeding our call to "take charge" by demanding nothing less than the best for their children.