Editor,
In his “Letter to the Editor” published on July 13, a reader questioned the validity of the Kendall County Democratic chairwoman’s recent assertion that most average folks oppose school vouchers.
One important thing that the letter writer failed to mention is this: How questions are posed can alter the outcome fairly significantly.
The polling results cited by the lett er-writer (Texas Politics Project, UT-Austin, Aug.-Sept. 2023) revealed an altogether different outcome when the question was posed not as “school choice,” but instead as “redirecting state tax revenue to help parents pay for some of the cost of sending their children to private or parochial schools.”
When worded to include the source of funding, “opposition increases to 42%, nearly identical to the level of support.” And interestingly, “the share of Republican opposition more than doubles, from 14% to 33%.”
In a more recent poll, when the question included the information that vouchers would be paid for by taxpayer dollars, a Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation poll (April 24, 2024) found that “57% of respondents said they disapproved. Only 36% signaled support.”
Moreover, “77% of Democrats, 56% of independents and 43% of Republicans surveyed opposed the idea.”
Of course, other factors can also modify polling results. For example, the UT-Austin poll found that the numbers will change contingent on such things as geography (urban vs. suburban vs. rural).
Words really do matter. When polling questions contain reference to the specifics of a voucher program — for example, by including the fact that vouchers will be paid for with tax revenues — support for a voucher program declines significantly.
The devil, as they say, is in the details. Voters should not be swayed by a perfunctory claim based only on numbers and nothing more.
— Cindy Offutt
Fair Oaks Ranch resident
Editor,
I have no argument with the geological record of the Earth, but that history is not a predictor of the near future. And, I have no comment on a 10-yearold critique of a survey done 15 years ago.
What I am concerned about is what scientists say is happening now. Glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising at a faster rate than any time in the last 100 years, and that is not a hoax.
Many climate change deniers are involved in the petrochemical industry and do not want to recognize these facts. But if there are ways to slow this accelerating change, shouldn’t we make the effort to do so?
There very well may be another glacial age but it will most likely be thousands of years from now and certainly will not be in time to reverse the current global warming.
— Ann Dietert
Boerne resident
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