According to this CNN Poll, Americans would cede some control of their school systems for more Federal funds:
A new national poll indicates that most Americans would be willing to give up some control of their public schools to the federal government in return for more money from Washington for those schools.
Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they would like to see more federal money spent on the public schools in their communities, even if it meant increased influence by the federal government over the education policies those schools follow, with 43 percent opposed.
There’s more at the link (but none of the poll’s crosstabs), but this poll really surprised me. Alot. It doesn’t exactly sync up with the common wisdom that people want less Federal involvement in their schools. This would argue to me that people also know that their school systems are not adequately funded for what we ask of them. But that they are willing to take more “free” Federal money to resolve that, rather than make sure that schools are better funded (and better managed financially) at the local level. I also wonder if this isn’t a pointer to an argument for those who want to consolidate school districts (ala Ed Rendell’s proposal).