American Federation for Children: School Choice in America
Challenge:
American Federation for Children (AFC), a national school choice organization, would like to have a better understanding of how voters feel about education and school choice, and probe specific key audiences like Latino and Millennial voters.
Solution:
Beck Research conducts an annual national survey for the AFC. As AFC works to expand educational choice across the country, our national polls show the broad and deep support for school choice as well as demonstrating that school choice is backed by a broader demographic and political coalition than normally assumed.
School choice is more than school vouchers and our work illustrates the strong support for the many faces of choice. Beck Research helps AFC sharpen its messaging in support of school choice, gain a better understanding of how voters feel and the probe specific key audiences they need insight from.
Of the voters 70% support the concept of school choice. 83% of voters support special needs scholarship programs, while 75% of voters support public charter schools.
Challenge:
What is Title X and how do we talk about it? Title X, the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning, was enacted in 1970 with broad bipartisan support, but is now under threat from the Republican Congress and faces a much different political landscape.
Solution:
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) tapped Beck Research and SKDKnickerbocker to develop messaging that could effectively counteract the threat to Title X and make a strong, affirmative case for family planning. NFPRHA needed to defend against the Republican attack, but also rally allies to support the now endangered program. We undertook an extensive research project that included focus groups in DC and in key cities, one-on-one interviews with NFRPHA members and DC insiders, and a DC elite poll to uncover what people really thought about family planning.
We went beyond demonstrating knowledge and support for family planning to lay out a comprehensive strategy to position family planning and defend Title X.
Challenge:
Knight Foundation needed to probe one of the toughest audiences in the country, top news editors, on one of the most important topics, the First Amendment legal challenges.
Solution:
Beck Research worked with the Knight Foundation to bring together the American Society of News Editors, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and Associated Press Media Editors to create a custom sample and survey that allowed the foundation to question the nation’s top editors on this essential topic. We provided technical and methodological guidance to facilitate the research among 286 top digital and print newspapers and gain a better understanding how newspapers are responding to the changing economic and legal environment. The results were sobering. While good legal work still goes on, many editors were worried about the future of the First Amendment.
Nearly two-thirds 65% of the editors who responded reported that the news industry is weaker in its ability to pursue legal activity around First Amendment-related issues than it was 10 years ago. A majority 53% agreed with the statement that “News organizations are no longer prepared to go to court to preserve First Amendment freedoms.” A plurality of 44%, however, said they were less able to go on the “offensive” by, for example, suing to open up access or information.
