Polling a long
I would say to Central Dad you need to lay off the coffee a little. I agree that Mrs. Reade does have a foot in mouth disease. However I believe the real problem, like many with the school system, is their thought process which is very narrow and some what tunnel like vision.
It is admirable that there is an effort to find out what the voters are thinking this time. I believe if a survey were conducted correctly, valuable and reliable information can be obtained even if it is a small percentage of the voters are polled. It must reach ALL of the demographics in the district.
However in the past the School Board has relied on their web site which has skewed the results in a number of ways. First I believe a high percentage of those voting or answering the School Web Site poll are also prone to vote for a levy. This in itself skews the results. If you look at the survey they have on the PLSD web site you see a lot of feel good questions. Most of the questions like ?“how we doing?“? Got very high marks 80 to 90% favorable. But when the questions was ask would you support or vote for a levy those 80% marks dropped to 55%. I believe those low marks were lost on many on the board.
To get an accurate poll you must include all of the demographics voting in your district. Phone polls are getting less accurate because of cell phone replacing land lines in many homes and phone numbers not being published or not available to the pollsters.
To get an accurate poll you must only ask 10 or fewer questions. I have received in the mail surveys and those surveys are sometimes 4 or 5 pages long with 25 or more questions. They simply get tossed.
You need to start the questions with soft ball questions like, ?“Is your child getting a quality education.?” Or is the School responsive to your child?’s educational needs. These questions will help you find those people that have vested interests in the school system.
Then there is the question of do you have children in the school system?
Also do you think your property taxes are too high?
Then the general question about the schools that everyone can answer or at least offer their opinion do you think the Pickerington Local School District is managing its money well?
Also do you think the Pickerington Schools are producing well educated graduates?
Then ask the big question can you afford a 2 Mill levy ($140 per year on a $200K home) to build needed schools.
Then would you vote for a 2 mill levy even though it would hurt your family?’s budget?
Would you vote for a 3 Mill levy ($210 per year on a 200K home) if knew that the expenditure was really needed.
If you had the choice would you prefer your school taxes come out of you earned income (income taxes) or from your property taxes?
Then the key is get someone totally unbiased to read and explain the poll to the board.
Last but not least keep one?’s foot out of one?’s mouth
I would say to Central Dad you need to lay off the coffee a little. I agree that Mrs. Reade does have a foot in mouth disease. However I believe the real problem, like many with the school system, is their thought process which is very narrow and some what tunnel like vision.
It is admirable that there is an effort to find out what the voters are thinking this time. I believe if a survey were conducted correctly, valuable and reliable information can be obtained even if it is a small percentage of the voters are polled. It must reach ALL of the demographics in the district.
However in the past the School Board has relied on their web site which has skewed the results in a number of ways. First I believe a high percentage of those voting or answering the School Web Site poll are also prone to vote for a levy. This in itself skews the results. If you look at the survey they have on the PLSD web site you see a lot of feel good questions. Most of the questions like ?“how we doing?“? Got very high marks 80 to 90% favorable. But when the questions was ask would you support or vote for a levy those 80% marks dropped to 55%. I believe those low marks were lost on many on the board.
To get an accurate poll you must include all of the demographics voting in your district. Phone polls are getting less accurate because of cell phone replacing land lines in many homes and phone numbers not being published or not available to the pollsters.
To get an accurate poll you must only ask 10 or fewer questions. I have received in the mail surveys and those surveys are sometimes 4 or 5 pages long with 25 or more questions. They simply get tossed.
You need to start the questions with soft ball questions like, ?“Is your child getting a quality education.?” Or is the School responsive to your child?’s educational needs. These questions will help you find those people that have vested interests in the school system.
Then there is the question of do you have children in the school system?
Also do you think your property taxes are too high?
Then the general question about the schools that everyone can answer or at least offer their opinion do you think the Pickerington Local School District is managing its money well?
Also do you think the Pickerington Schools are producing well educated graduates?
Then ask the big question can you afford a 2 Mill levy ($140 per year on a $200K home) to build needed schools.
Then would you vote for a 2 mill levy even though it would hurt your family?’s budget?
Would you vote for a 3 Mill levy ($210 per year on a 200K home) if knew that the expenditure was really needed.
If you had the choice would you prefer your school taxes come out of you earned income (income taxes) or from your property taxes?
Then the key is get someone totally unbiased to read and explain the poll to the board.
Last but not least keep one?’s foot out of one?’s mouth
