Not in my schoolyard: Localism and public opposition to funding schools equally

Objective. Public opinion on education has not been extensively studied, de spite the important political dimensions of conflicts over education polici es. This article seeks to understand the dynamics of public opposition to e qual educational opportunity in the wake of state supreme court decisions m andating school finance reform. Methods. Exploring state level polls from C onnecticut and New Jersey, the article analyzes attitudes toward equal educ ational opportunity through logistic and ordinary-least-squares regression. Results. Situating attitudes toward school funding within the contexts of attitudes toward educational equality, taxes, and school performance, this analysis finds support for both self-interest and symbolic opposition to eq ualization, but it also finds that localism has a strong and independent: e ffect on respondents' views concerning the desirability of equal funding in schools. Conclusions. Despite respondents strong support for the principle of funding schools equally, their support is significantly eroded if they perceive that equality threatens or diminishes local control of schools.