“While the American public is totally right about respecting the teacher and improving the quality of teaching, I think the American public is wrong about the quality of their community’s schools,” [Jon Schnur, co-founder and CEO of New Leaders for New Schools] says. “This overestimate of the quality of local schools makes people less inclined to support dramatic interventions.” He sees a lack of good data available as a factor in Americans’ perceptions.

Schnur makes a good point. I mean, I take it as almost a given when dealing with polls that the phrasing, sample, and in-house mojo is just as much an issue as the data themselves.