Of the parents who knew about the drive for higher standards and testing in their school district, only 2 percent want to go back to the old ways. About 10 percent of parents complained of too much homework, too much pressure, too many tests or not enough extra help for struggling students. They do not support the story of a backlash that is gradually being reiterated again and again. Backlash reiteration boomed last June around graduation time, then resumed again in September as pickets and protestors complained in many states. She thinks that some of the negative media coverage of tests and standards may have something to do with the presidential race, since George W. Bush is so heavily identified with this issue.
Many polls undermine the backlash theory.
Two-thirds of blacks and whites and 82 percent of Hispanics endorsed graduation tests. A year ago, a poll of teachers belonging to a union showed strong support for standards-based reform. Opponents of standards reform commonly argue that it tends to stigmatize or harm struggling students, but the teachers strongly disagreed. By almost 2 to 1, they said it mainly benefited these students. This finding may reflect the belief that minority children, many stuck in bad schools, have the most to gain from standards reform.