County Poll: Most Prefer Election of Schools Head

Most people questioned in a new county poll favor election of the county superintendent of schools over making the post appointive, according to poll results released Friday.

Residents also believe the quality of public education is very good in Orange County, the poll revealed, although residents indicated they don’t know who is responsible.

The telephone survey of 400 county residents by American Opinon Research of Santa Ana was commissioned by the county Department of Education in response to a critical grand jury report. The jury favored having the superintendent of schools appointed rather than elected.

But 56% of those surveyed want the superintendent to continue to be elected, pollsters found. Thirty-six percent favor a change to appointing the superintendent while 8% had no opinion.

“I’m not surprised at the results,� said Robert Peterson, the Orange County superindent of schools, who has been elected to the position for the past 20 years. “I think if there were an actual vote on the subject, the public sentiment against giving up the right to vote for the superintendent would be even greater.�

Similar Comment

County Board of Education member Francis Hoffman had a similar comment Friday. “I think in an actual election more people would be opposed than the poll revealed because the poll questions were polite, and in an election you wouldn’t necessarily have that,� Hoffman said.

The poll, however, also found that only 42% of those surveyed had ever heard of the county superintendent of schools by title. Of that 42% who’d heard of the position, only one in 20 knew the name of the incumbent.

The 1985-86 county grand jury report recommended a switch to an appointed superintendent and urged the elected county Board of Education to name a special commission to study the possibility.

The county board, after weeks of debate, voted in September to follow the jury’s recommendation. On Dec. 3 the board named a seven-member citizens’ Blue-Ribbon Commission to study how the superintendent should be named. The board had previously commissioned, for about $4,500, a public opinion poll on the subject. The telephone poll was made over Nov. 22 to 23.

The results of the poll were given earlier this week to the Blue-Ribbon Commission, and a copy was given to The Times on Friday.

Focal Question

The focal question in the poll was to determine public sentiment for a possible change in how the county superintendent is named. The question was as follows: “The county superintendent is responsible for administering and operating the county Office of Education, insuring that mandated and elective services are provided to educational agencies within the county. Some people have said that the Orange County superintendent of schools should be elected because he would be more responsive to the public. Others have said that this position should be appointed because that guarantees it would be filled by a professional in the field of education. Do you think that the Orange County superintendent of schools should be appointed by the county Board of Education? Elected countywide?�

The two possible preferences in the question were rotated in the phone calls so that in half of the calls the countywide election of the superintendent was the first option mentioned.

One question asked: “How would you rate the quality of education in the public schools of Orange County?�

The results showed that 9% of those surveyed said public education is “excellent,� 56% said it is “good,� 16% said “not very good,� 8% said “poor,� and 11% said they didn’t know.

This translated into an overwhelming 65% who believe education is good to excellent in the county, the polling company’s analysis said. But the analysis added: “Although the quality of education was thought to be high, the survey found that there is confusion as to who, in fact, is responsible for that quality of education and/or how educational policy is set.�

For instance, the poll showed that some residents guessed that mayors and the county Board of Supervisors are the officials responsible for managing public schools. Public schools, however, are actually managed by elected district boards of education.