VOA慢速英语2018--研究发现美国对特许学校的支持

Study Finds Support for Charter Schools Growing in US

A new study published Tuesday has found increased support for charter schools and private school voucher¹ programs. The study suggests that Republican Party support for these programs had a strong influence on the increase.

A charter school is a school that receives a special charter, or written rules, from a state government. These schools, a type of school choice, are publicly funded but operate independently from school districts.

School voucher programs permit public funds to pay for students to attend a private or religious school.

The findings by Education Next, were published by Harvard University’s Kennedy School and Stanford University. They come as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos promotes alternatives to traditional public schools.

Growing charter support

The study found that 44 percent of respondents said they support the expansion of charter schools, compared to 39 percent in 2017. However, that number was at 51 percent in 2016.

The study found that 57 percent of Republicans included in the study support charter schools. Thirty-six percent of Democrats² said the same. The number of Republicans who answered favorably in last year's study was 47 percent. The number among Democrats in 2017 was 34 percent.

Martin West of Harvard University is one of the report’s writers. He said, “Support is up among Republicans for various strategies to expand school choice, and the Trump³ administration’s embrace of those policies is a likely explanation.”

Nina Rees is president of the organization National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. She said the findings "demonstrate through the educational choices they make for children - families want higher quality charter school options for their kids.”

Rees added, "Above all else, parents care that their child has access to an excellent school, and as education advocates, it is our job to ensure that wish becomes a reality."

Robin⁴ Lake is with the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Lake noted⁵ that the issue of charter schools has become extremely political. Lake said, "I don't think that an education policy that's designed to get better outcomes for kids should ever be a partisan⁶ issue."

Support also grew for publicly funded vouchers⁷ given to low-income families to help them pay for private schools. The study found that those in favor of such efforts rose from 37 percent in 2017 to 42 percent this year.

A low-income family is one that earns less than twice the federal poverty line.

More satisfied with police than schools

The report also found that Americans seem to be more satisfied with their local police and the post office than with their neighborhood school.

Fifty-one percent of respondents said they would give their local schools a grade of A or B. A grade of A or B means “above average.”

But 68 percent gave the local post office a similar grade. Sixty-nine percent gave a similar grade to the local police.

Patrick McGuinn, an education and political science professor at Drew University, said it makes sense that if only 51 percent of Americans are giving public schools a high grade, then support for other school choices would grow.

The Education Next report was based on interviews with 4,601 adults across the United States.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

embrace - v. to accept (something or someone) readily or gladly?

promote - v. to help (something) happen, develop, or increase

alternative - n. to help (something) happen, develop, or increase

grade - n. a particular level of quality

journal - n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a particular group of people?

partisan - adj. a person who strongly supports a particular leader, group, or cause?

strategy - n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal usually over a long period of time?

voucher - n. a document that gives you the right to get something (such as a product or service) without paying for it

1 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

7 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）