December 20, 2012 - Florida Voters Oppose School Reforms By Big Margins, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Split On Same-Sex Marriage Word format Florida voters are dead-set against a series of recommendations made by state officials regarding education, with the largest opposition, 71 - 7 percent, against a plan to set different achievement goals for students of different races, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Registered voters also strongly oppose, 66 - 26 percent, charging lower tuition to college students who major in subjects such as math, science, engineering and computers that lead to higher-paying jobs, and higher tuition for liberal arts majors, considered less employable, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Voters also oppose, 73 - 16 percent, the idea of allowing some public universities dubbed as "preeminent" to charge higher tuition that other state colleges. Turning to public employee pensions, voters say 53 - 34 percent that it's a good idea to make new state employees participate in a 401-k type retirement plan rather than the defined- benefit plan offered to current state workers. Opposition to race-based education goals is 73 - 7 percent among white voters, 63 - 11 percent among black voters and 67 - 7 percent among Hispanic voters. Voters with children in public schools oppose the measure 69 - 10 percent. "Voters, with little difference along political, racial or gender lines, find setting different goals for different races to be distasteful," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The data from this survey finds that voters like the idea of treating all students and colleges the same." Florida voters also oppose 62 - 27 percent charging lower tuition rates for freshmen and sophomores than for juniors and seniors. They are also quite skeptical of Gov. Rick Scott's challenge to the state's colleges and universities to offer some four-year degrees for a total of $10,000. Only 29 percent think it is very or somewhat likely to occur, while 66 percent say it is not very likely or not likely at all to materialize. Interestingly, while voters seem strongly behind the idea of treating all schools and students equally, when it comes to education, they have a different view about state workers. The majority who like the idea of creating a two-tiered retirement system for state workers shows little difference by gender, with 55 percent of men and 52 percent of women thinking it is a good idea. But the political divisions are wider: Support is 69 - 20 percent among Republicans and 52 - 36 percent among independent voters, while Democrats are opposed 46 - 40 percent. Voters in union households are opposed 57 - 34 percent. Same-Sex Marriage Florida voters are changing their minds about same-sex marriage. They opposed this idea 50 - 40 percent in a May 23 Quinnipiac University poll. Today, voters are divided with 43 percent in favor and 45 percent opposed. Men are opposed 48 - 40 percent while women are divided with 45 percent supporting same-sex marriage and 43 percent opposed. White Catholic voters support same-sex marriage 47 - 40 percent while white Protestants are opposed 63 - 28 percent. Voters 18 to 29 years old support it 66 - 23 percent. Floridians are less supportive of legalizing personal use of marijuana than the rest of the country. A bare majority of voters, 51 - 44 percent, told a recent Quinnipiac University national poll it supported the idea. But Florida voters oppose it 52 - 42 percent. From December 11 - 17, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,261 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 25. Many state employees belong to retirement plans that pay set benefits based on peak earnings and years of employment. Some Florida lawmakers want new state employees to instead receive a 401k-like plan, that pays benefits based on investment earnings the way many retirement plans in the private sector do. Do you think that changing the state employee retirement plan for new employees to a 401k-like investment plan is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Good idea 53% 69% 40% 52% 55% 52% 58% 36% 53% Bad idea 34 20 46 36 34 34 30 52 35 DK/NA 12 10 14 12 10 14 12 12 11 Union HsHlds Good idea 34% Bad idea 57 DK/NA 8 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Good idea 58% 52% 50% 59% 57% 45% 56% 56% 53% Bad idea 33 35 36 34 33 45 31 35 31 DK/NA 9 13 14 7 10 10 13 9 16 26. Do you support or oppose allowing colleges and universities that are designated by the Board of Governors as 'preeminent' or 'top' schools to exceed the 15% cap on raising tuition? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 16% 17% 14% 17% 19% 14% 17% 14% 15% Oppose 73 70 76 75 72 74 72 74 78 DK/NA 10 13 10 8 9 12 11 12 7 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 18% 16% 15% 17% 17% 22% 12% 18% 15% Oppose 73 73 75 75 75 71 82 73 69 DK/NA 9 11 10 8 8 6 6 10 16 North/ HAVE KIDS...... Panhd Bay Cntrl SthW SthE <18 InPubSch Support 16% 15% 20% 15% 15% 16% 15% Oppose 76 73 72 75 73 78 81 DK/NA 8 13 8 10 12 6 4 27. Do you support or oppose allowing colleges and universities to charge more for degrees considered less employable like liberal arts and charge less for degrees considered more employable like science, technology, engineering and math? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 26% 27% 26% 27% 30% 23% 24% 35% 27% Oppose 66 62 66 67 63 68 67 57 70 DK/NA 8 11 8 6 7 9 9 8 4 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 22% 28% 28% 29% 22% 30% 28% 26% 24% Oppose 74 62 62 66 74 66 69 66 61 DK/NA 4 10 10 5 4 3 3 8 15 North/ HAVE KIDS...... Panhd Bay Cntrl SthW SthE <18 InPubSch Support 25% 25% 31% 25% 25% 26% 28% Oppose 65 66 61 67 68 68 68 DK/NA 9 9 7 8 7 5 4 28. Do you support or oppose allowing colleges and universities to charge less for freshman and sophomore level classes and charge more for junior and senior level classes? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 27% 29% 25% 27% 32% 22% 27% 30% 24% Oppose 62 58 65 63 56 67 62 58 65 DK/NA 11 13 11 10 12 11 11 12 11 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 28% 26% 26% 29% 31% 32% 26% 30% 21% Oppose 66 60 64 61 59 62 69 58 61 DK/NA 6 13 10 9 10 6 5 12 18 North/ HAVE KIDS...... Panhd Bay Cntrl SthW SthE <18 InPubSch Support 30% 28% 21% 24% 29% 27% 27% Oppose 62 59 68 66 58 65 67 DK/NA 8 13 11 9 13 9 6 29. Governor Rick Scott has challenged Florida colleges to offer some of their four-year degree programs for ten thousand dollars. How likely do you think it is that Florida colleges will be able to offer four-year degree programs for ten thousand dollars? Do you think it is very likely, somewhat likely, not very likely or not likely at all? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Very likely 9% 10% 10% 8% 9% 9% 6% 11% 16% Smwht likely 20 25 17 17 21 19 19 27 17 Not very likely 33 33 32 35 32 34 35 29 33 Not likely at all 33 28 36 34 34 32 34 28 30 DK/NA 5 4 6 6 5 6 5 5 4 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Very likely 8% 9% 10% 5% 7% 6% 13% 10% 6% Smwht likely 17 21 22 20 17 27 17 20 18 Not very likely 32 34 35 32 36 34 32 32 35 Not likely at all 38 31 28 41 36 28 36 32 34 DK/NA 5 5 6 3 5 4 2 6 7 North/ HAVE KIDS...... Panhd Bay Cntrl SthW SthE <18 InPubSch Very likely 6% 9% 10% 11% 10% 10% 9% Smwht likely 24 17 21 21 17 21 23 Not very likely 35 34 32 36 31 27 26 Not likely at all 31 35 32 25 36 40 40 DK/NA 4 5 4 7 6 2 1 30. To cut the achievement gap in Florida's public schools, the Board of Education has set different goals for different racial and ethnic groups. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea, or don't you have an opinion about that? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Good idea 7% 4% 13% 6% 7% 8% 7% 11% 7% Bad idea 71 77 65 72 70 72 73 63 67 No opinion 20 18 21 20 22 19 19 24 25 REFUSED 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Good idea 10% 6% 8% 5% 8% 5% 8% 10% 5% Bad idea 75 70 66 79 78 68 71 73 70 No opinion 15 22 24 15 14 26 21 16 23 REFUSED - 2 1 1 - - 1 1 2 North/ HAVE KIDS...... Panhd Bay Cntrl SthW SthE <18 InPubSch Good idea 9% 5% 9% 6% 7% 9% 10% Bad idea 72 76 70 71 69 70 69 No opinion 19 17 20 23 23 20 22 REFUSED 1 1 2 - 1 1 - 31. In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Support 43% 23% 58% 47% 40% 45% 45% 31% 46% Oppose 45 66 31 40 48 43 44 60 44 DK/NA 12 11 11 13 11 12 11 9 10 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Support 54% 42% 28% 47% 42% 48% 19% 48% Oppose 35 48 63 40 46 41 75 39 DK/NA 11 11 9 14 12 10 7 13 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Support 53% 39% 40% 49% 47% 66% 47% 42% 30% Oppose 36 49 50 41 42 23 43 46 58 DK/NA 12 11 10 10 11 11 10 12 12 TREND: In general, do you support or oppose same-sex marriage? Dec 20 May 23 2012 2012 Support 43 40 Oppose 45 50 DK/NA 12 10 32. Do you think that the use of marijuana should be made legal in Florida, or not? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Hsp Yes 42% 28% 48% 49% 49% 37% 45% 37% 32% No 52 66 46 46 47 56 49 55 64 DK/NA 6 6 7 5 5 7 6 7 4 WHITE.............................................. COLLEGE DEG BornAgnEv Yes No Prot Cath Men Wom Yes No Yes 48% 45% 32% 43% 49% 42% 28% 45% No 45 51 62 52 46 51 69 49 DK/NA 8 5 5 4 5 7 3 6 COLLEGE DEG ANNUAL HSHOLD INC AGE IN YRS.............. Yes No <50K 50-100 >100K 18-29 30-44 45-64 65+ Yes 46% 41% 41% 49% 43% 54% 50% 47% 24% No 47 54 54 45 50 43 43 46 70 DK/NA 7 5 5 5 7 3 7 6 6 Demographic Summary
