PHOENIX β A new survey by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy finds Arizonans want more money spent on education.
But paying for it? Thatβs another question.
The report being released Monday, Nov. 25, finds nearly 70% of the 975 Arizona residents questioned rate higher teacher pay as very important, meaning 8, 9 or 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Similarly, about 57% support more counselors.
There also was strong support for school safety, smaller class sizes and improvements to school buildings.
At the same time, 42% concluded that Arizonaβs high school graduates were βnot as well preparedβ as counterparts from other states.
Yet only 45% said they are willing to spend an extra $200 a year to improve Arizonaβs public education system.
Economist Jim Rounds, who worked with the Morrison Institute at Arizona State University to analyze the results, said the fact that a majority are not willing to spend that much money is a crucial point that policymakers need to consider.
In fact, Rounds suggested that asking people what they would like government to do really isnβt helpful by itself.
βI think the public has yet to be asked the comprehensive question,β he said. Rounds said that starts with what people would like to see and why, give them some additional information βand then tell them what thatβs going to cost.
And itβs even more complex than that.
βYou canβt necessarily go up to somebody and just say, βWould you like more money for schoolsβ and βWhat are you willing to pay,β because what does that mean, βmore money for schoolsβ?β Rounds said.
βDoes it mean that itβs going to go to teacher pay, itβs going to go toward better locks on the classroom, is it going to go toward something very specific or just in general?β
Rounds said that the more the questions are posed in general terms, the less reliable the results. βYou have to reduce it down to something specific,β he said.
On the larger question of dollars and cents, just one out of five people asked believes the state has enough revenue. Another 13% said Arizona collects more in taxes than it needs, with 50% saying there needs to be an increase in state revenues.
But there were no follow-up questions on whether and how much those who say more dollars are needed are actually willing to spend.
A companion question, however, suggests a possible skepticism about giving state leaders more money to allocate.
A total of 44% of those polled said they have βnot very muchβ confidence in state government, with another 10% saying they have no confidence at all.
That left 41% who rate their confidence levels in state government at fair, and just 5% who have a great deal of confidence.
Education funding aside, the survey did find some consensus on a number of key issues.
Other issues in survey include gun sales
Most notably, more than 83% want to require background checks before a gun can be sold to anyone else.
Thatβs already the case now when a gun is sold by a licensed gun dealer. But there is no such mandate for person-to-person sales. And the law defines that to include sales made by individuals from their own collections at gun shows.
Efforts to close what some call the βgun-show loopholeβ have faltered amid stiff opposition from lawmakers who say that would infringe on the Second Amendment. And Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who is pushing legislation he said would keep firearms out of the hands of those determined to be dangerous, has refused to support expanding the law to ensure that those who are on such a list cannot obtain guns from private sales or gun shows.
Water concerns found
On other topics, 67% of those questioned said they believe drought is a threat to Arizonaβs water supply, with an equal number seeing the state population growth as undermining the state having enough water. But 71% said that Arizona agriculture, which uses about 70% of the water in the state, is important to the nationβs food supply.
The Morrison survey also found 56% said they see climate change as a threat to that water supply, with 63% saying state government needs to do more to prepare Arizona for changing climate conditions.
There was somewhat less concern about water quality, with 59% seeing pollution and contamination as a threat to the water supply.
Immigration issues
The issue of immigration is not a top priority for Arizonans, ranking below water quality, public education, health insurance, public safety and affordable housing and senior care, according to this poll. Overall, 65% called it an important policy issue.
Slightly more than one in three questioned say they feel less safe because of undocumented immigrants living in Arizona. Conversely, close to 60% say they are either not in favor of or unsure about deporting all people in this country illegally.
Affordable housing underlined as issue
On the issue of affordable housing, 59% said they believe government funding should be expanded.
But here, too, there is no specific suggestion of how much or who should pay.
The survey found some pronounced differences in attitudes based on age.
For example, on the question of being willing to be taxed an extra $200 for education, 52% of those younger than 35 are willing to open their wallets. But support for that drops to 29% for the 55-and-over crowd.
Along the same lines, those with children younger than 18 at home are more likely to back a $200-a-year tax increase for education than those in homes without children.
Perhaps for the same reason, the issue of child care was far more important to younger people who were surveyed as well as to those with children at home than their more senior counterparts and those of whatever age who have no youngsters in the house.
Conversely, older respondents were more likely to feel less safe because of undocumented immigrants in Arizona.
But those 55 and older also were more sensitive to issues of water quantity than those who are younger than 35.
The survey, conducted in late June and early July, has a potential margin of error of 3 percentage points.
One note of interest is that the survey was conducted online, allowing respondents to use desktop computers and mobile devices. But Morrison spokesman Steve Kilar said his organization believes it to be more accurate than a phone poll.
βWith random-dial cellphone polls, itβs not even clear the person is living in the state since the calls are based on the area code,β he said.
Kilar also said those asked to participate are part of a predetermined pool that is designed to be balanced according to income, geography, race and ethnicity.
