2023 Public Perception of Charter Schools in Mississippi

  • Charter Schools

The 2023 Public Perception of Charter Schools survey report provides critical insights into public understanding and support of charter schools in Mississippi. This comprehensive survey was conducted by the Survey Research Lab (SRL) at Mississippi State University’s Social Science Research Center.

The survey captured responses from a representative sample of 534 Mississippi public school parents, divided into two groups: non-charter parents and charter parents. This year’s findings highlight evolving perceptions and knowledge about charter schools among these groups.

Public Perception of Charter Schools in Mississippi

Learn how parents feel about charter schools in Mississippi when surveyed in 2023.

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High-Level Findings

  • Familiarity
    • The percentage of non-charter parents reporting they were “not at all familiar” with charter schools increased from 27% to 46%.
    • Between 2020 and 2023, the percentage of charter parents reporting they were “very familiar” with charter schools decreased from 81.8% to 73.3%.
  • Recognition of Charter Schools as Public Schools
    • Among non-charter parents with some knowledge of charter schools, the percentage correctly recognizing charter schools as public schools rose from 47.0% to 58.4%.
  • Support for Charter Schools
    • Both charter and non-charter parents support charter schools in their communities at high levels, with 93% of charter parents and 70.3% of non-charter parents endorsing charter schools in their communities.
  • Access to High-Quality Schools
    • Only 17.1% of charter parents and 9.8% of non-charter parents believe that all children in their communities have access to high-quality schools, indicating a continued need for better public schools in charter-eligible communities statewide.

Authors

Grace Breazeale

K-12 Policy Associate

Grace Breazeale is the K-12 Policy Associate at Mississippi First. Along with this report, she co-authored Falling Behind: Falling Behind: Teacher Compensation and the Race Against Inflation, Eyeing the Exit: Teacher Turnover, and What We Can Do About It. She also publishes a monthly blog post dedicated to K-12 education policy in Mississippi.

toren ballard

Toren Ballard

Director of K-12 Policy

Toren Ballard is the Director of K-12 Policy at Mississippi First and is a co-author of several reports, including Nothing in the Pipes: Educator Crisis in Mississippi, Voices of the Shortage: 2022 Mississippi Teacher Survey, and Eyeing the Exit: Teacher Turnover and What We Can Do About It. Toren also co-authored the 2020 release of Mississippi First’s previous Public Perception of Charter Schools in Mississippi report.