The margin of sampling error for responses based solely upon home-school parents is plus or minus 11 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence. In the wake of plummeting test scores, controversial curricula and increasing incidents of violence in the nation's public schools, both private schooling and home schooling have seen a tremendous growth in popularity over the last few years. Economically, for parents and taxpayers alike, the new polling data becomes even more compelling. Both figures exclude the costs of the building in which each child is taught. That fact, analysts said, appears to bolster support for education vouchers.
Cost is also a factor in deciding where parents send their children to school.
Twenty percent of home-school parents would do the same. In his speech Thursday night accepting the Republican nomination for president, Gov. George W. Bush expressed support for school vouchers. The poll also explores opinion on public school accountability if vouchers were used, as well as parental choice for schools, public school spending and selection of schools.