Voters like the idea of reducing class sizes in public schools, an Elway Poll finds. But they're more divided on whether to raise taxes to cover the cost.
OLYMPIA – A new poll finds most Washington voters want lawmakers to find a way to reduce class sizes in all public-school grades. But their enthusiasm sags when they’re asked if they’d pay for the estimated $2 billion cost with tax increases.
Voters last year passed Initiative 1351, which mandated broad class-size reductions but included no way to pay for them. That’s left legislators wrestling with what to do with the measure.
The Elway Poll of 505 registered voters, released Tuesday, shows 53 percent favoring class-size reduction in all grades — a repudiation of the approach being taken by legislative budget writers, who’d only reduce K-3 class sizes. Only 36 percent of voters in the poll said they favor the K-3 compromise.
But voters were more divided when Elway asked if they’d support a resubmitted version of I-1351 that included a tax increase to cover the $2 billion cost. Forty-eight percent said they definitely or probably would vote yes. Forty-three percent were certain or likely to vote no. (The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.)
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“Of course, no particular tax increase was mentioned and actual support would be related to an actual tax proposal,” pollster Stuart Elway wrote in a poll analysis. He noted that a large lead for I-1351 last year evaporated when opponents hammered on the costs. “Still, these results indicate enduring support for the idea of class size reduction.”