WESA-Campos Survey: Back-to-School in the ‘Burgh

Campos and 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh’s NPR News Station, are partnering on a series of short opinion surveys of adults in the Pittsburgh region to better understand their opinions on a range of timely topics. This joint research and reporting project will ensure WESA can tap into the opinions of people in Pittsburgh on a regular basis and use the corresponding results to complement its reporting. (For more information, or to sign up to participate, click here.)

In the third round of the WESA/Campos Pulse Survey, we investigated Pittsburgh residents’ opinions regarding education, with a focus on K-12 schooling.

Key Findings

Pittsburgh area residents tend to be more satisfied with whichever public school district they live in than with public education in the state of PA overall.

Mirroring the national trend, Pittsburgh area residents generally like the schools in their own district—55% are at least “somewhat” satisfied, while only 24% are “somewhat” or “very” dissatisfied—but are less positive about the perceived state of education across the Commonwealth.
- In particular, respondents are much less likely to be “very satisfied” with public education in the state of PA than in their own school districts (9% vs. 23%, respectively).
This gap is most apparent among those who live in a suburban community (as self-described) or who have a household income of $100K or more—because they tend to be much more satisfied with the school district they live in than urban and lower-income respondents.
City of Pittsburgh residents are much less pleased with their own school district on average—40% of them are at least “somewhat” dissatisfied, compared to 18% of those in the rest of Allegheny County, and 19% of those in the surrounding counties.

Dissatisfaction with K-12 public education in Pittsburgh-area districts is higher among those who don’t have children in school.

Reflecting another national trend, parents with school-age children are much more likely to be satisfied with the quality of K-12 public education in their own school district (73% at least “somewhat” satisfied) than those without children (48% at least “somewhat” satisfied).
That said, parents and non-parents are about equally dissatisfied with K-12 public education in the state of Pennsylvania.

In general, when it comes to K-12 education in PA, Pittsburgh area residents are far more concerned about issues that affect overall academic quality and student safety than they are about instructional values, inclusivity, or students’ sexual/gender expression.

Percentages below indicate the percent of respondents who said that marked that item as one of the 3 “most important issues facing K-12 education in the state of Pennsylvania today.”

In aggregate, Pittsburgh area residents tend to consider the following the most important issues facing K-12 education in PA:
- #1 – Overall academic quality (57%)
- #2 – Safety of students (50%)
- #3 – Teacher retention / staffing shortages (36%)
- #4 – Disparities in school funding or quality across districts/schools (34%)
- #5 – Mental health of students (29%)
Among the options provided, the issues of least concern among respondents were “Participation in school sports or extracurriculars” (4%) and “Student expression of gender identity or sexual preference” (5%).
Among respondents who live in an urban area (self-reported) or in the City of Pittsburgh, as well as respondents with household income <$50K, “safety of students” is the #1 most-selected issue.
Concern about “Teaching/instruction that aligns with my/my family’s values” correlates strongly with Republican Party identification (40% selected), and is also more prevalent among those outside Allegheny County and in less-dense areas (rural>suburban>urban).
- Republicans are also more likely to select “parents’ ability to send children to the school of their choosing,” “cost of attending school,” and “overall academic quality,” and less likely to select “teacher/staffing shortages,” disparities in school funding…”, “mental health of students,” or “inclusive environments for all students,” compared to Democrats.

Non-white or multiracial respondents are particularly concerned about “Disparities in school funding or quality across districts/schools” (this is the most commonly selected item among this group), and are much less likely to consider “teaching/instruction that aligns with my/my family’s values” a top issue, compared to white respondents.
Those with school-aged children are particularly concerned with “mental health of students” (36% selected).

Pittsburgh area residents are very polarized when it comes to “school choice,” but a 55% majority disagree that PA should implement a voucher program.

Respondents were asked how much they agree with the statement “Pennsylvania should use taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for students to attend private schools, if they or their parents choose.”
55% of respondents disagree “somewhat” or “completely,” while 36% agree “somewhat” or “completely.”
- Notably, though, those with school-aged children are more likely than those without children to be in favor of a voucher program (47% agree, 46% disagree).
Opinions on this question track largely, but not entirely, with political identification: 61% of Republicans are at least “somewhat” in favor of a voucher program, while 63% of Democrats are at least “somewhat” opposed to it.
- Substantial minorities (28% of Democrats, 36% of Republicans) hold positions contrary to their party’s overall view.
Compared to typical survey responses, the responses to this question are extremely polarized, with almost no respondents saying they “neither agree nor disagree.” Even among the politically independent and unaffiliated, only 11% had a neutral response.
Responses are especially polarized among those who live in the City of Pittsburgh, with 23% saying they “completely” agree and 43% saying they “completely” disagree.

A majority of Pittsburgh area residents believe that vocational/technical training or another non-college path is more valuable and advisable for a young person today than getting a 4-year college degree.

46% of all respondents say that, if they were giving advice to a young person entering adulthood, “vocational/technical training” is the path they would recommend as the most valuable and advisable today.
- An additional 13% would advise another path that doesn’t require a bachelor’s degree: Entering the workforce with a high school diploma or G.E.D. (4%), an academic or professional certificate program (5%), or an associate’s degree program (4%).
By contrast, 28% would advise a bachelor’s degree program and another 13% would advise an advanced degree program (beyond a bachelor’s), making for a total of 42% who would advise getting at least an undergraduate degree.
Support for vocational/technical training vs. a bachelor’s or advanced degree is about equal across nearly all subgroups that we have sufficient data to report on.
- The exception is that support for earning a bachelor’s or advanced degree tends to increase with higher income—but even among those with a household income of $100K+, 37% would advise vocational/technical training.

Survey Methodology

Fielding dates: Sept. 5-11, 2023

Survey length: 5-8 minutes

Sample: 401 adults (age 18+) in the Pittsburgh region

Responses were solicited from the proprietary Campos Research Panel (10,000+ members in the Greater Pittsburgh area). Respondents were offered a chance to win one of five $50 gift cards to incentivize participation.
84% of the respondents reside in Allegheny County, and about 16% reside in the adjacent 5 counties (Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Washington, Westmoreland).
The sample was managed and weighted to be approximately representative of the 6-county region by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

Screening Criteria: