BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama released its latest edition of the Public Opinion Survey Wednesday, alongside the launch of a dedicated Education Research Center aimed at expanding PARCA’s research on issues facing Alabama schools and policymakers.
The 2026 survey’s findings portray a public that is supportive of public schools and additional investment in them, while taking a more cautious view of directing public dollars to private education. At the same time, respondents appear open to school choice so long as public funding brings expectations for accountability.
The broader support for public education shows up in how respondents ranked the state’s priorities.
The survey shows respondents again ranked education as their top priority, with healthcare coming in a close second. For the first time since PARCA began asking the question in 2014, education did not lead outright. Forty percent ranked healthcare first and 39% ranked education first, a difference PARCA said was not statistically significant.
Public safety and highways carried spots three and four of the major areas of state government that respondents were asked to rank.
Read the full report at this link.
PARCA also surveyed respondents in other education-related areas, including state budget priorities, how education is funded, school choice and accountability, and who should make decisions about education.
As in previous years, the majority of Alabamians believe the state spends too little on education, and while two-thirds of respondents say they would pay more taxes to fund education, there is no agreement on which type of tax – income, property, sales or online sales tax – residents would be willing to pay.
The strongest agreement on spending was at the beginning of the education pipeline. Large majorities said too little is spent on early childhood education and public K-12 schools, while views became increasingly mixed for community colleges and four-year universities. A 42% plurality said too much is being spent on private-school vouchers.
The majority of respondents said they would agree with tapping into the state’s $3 billion in education reserve funds to increase spending to renovate school facilities, improve school safety, and update the state’s school funding formula.
When respondents were asked to rate priorities for new tax dollars for education, as opposed to reserve funding, the largest group, 39%, said the money should be spent to increase employee pay and benefits.
Alabamians are split just about evenly when it comes to the state’s newest school choice program, the CHOOSE Act, Alabama’s education savings account program, which PARCA refers to in the survey as a voucher program.
Through the CHOOSE Act, which lawmakers passed in 2024, the state uses tax proceeds to fund students to attend private school or to be educated at home. Forty-eight percent of respondents support the program and 50% oppose it.
Even as respondents split almost evenly over the CHOOSE Act, a slim majority said they would choose public schools for their own children or grandchildren, and a plurality said the state is already spending too much on private-school vouchers.
The survey also shows limits to support for the program. Among those who initially supported vouchers, 42% said they would no longer support it if the program reduced funding for public education. And if demand eventually exceeds available funding, 44% said the state should keep income limits for participation in place, compared with 15% who said lawmakers should appropriate more money.
Respondents showed broad agreement that public money for private schooling should come with public accountability for the results those private schools get.
Current law does not require any public accountability for the 30,000-plus students accepting CHOOSE Act funding to attend private schools. Large majorities of Alabamians said private schools receiving state funds should meet many of the same academic, testing, reporting and financial accountability requirements as public schools.
The survey found another broad area of agreement around who should make decisions about schools.
Respondents generally favored education boards over lawmakers or the federal government. They preferred the State Board of Education make decisions about academic standards, teacher qualifications and instructional materials, and local school boards to make decisions about school safety, calendars and athletics.
The survey was conducted from Feb. 25 through April 3 among 444 Alabama adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.7 percentage points.