ADVOCATES FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN
Advocates for Student Achievement

The Landscape Poll

ASA commissioned a "landscape poll," which was conducted in mid-January, to get a better understanding of how MPS district voters view the public school system, the MPS board, and various issues. The consultants prepared both a memo (pdf format) and a slide show on the poll results.

Questions and Answers on the ASA Landscape Poll
Advocates for Student Achievement sponsored a poll in early January 2009 of 400 likely voters in the three Milwaukee school board districts with contested races in the April election. The poll was designed to assess voters' concerns at the beginning of an election campaign, a so-called “landscape poll.” The pollsters concluded “voters are crying out for major change, not incremental tinkering, but wholesale change in the way MPS operates.” Because of the amount of disinformation about the poll we have decided to release the full poll results on our web site at asa-mke.org. Below are some questions and answers about the poll.

  • Who conducted the poll? ASA hired a well-known polling firm named Brilliant Corners. Brilliant Corners has done work for major campaigns such as the Obama presidential campaign. As is typical in the polling industry, Brilliant Corners hired another firm, Parker Group, to do the actual interviews.
  • Who were surveyed? Four hundred people who had voted in at least two of the last four school board campaigns in three districts: the fourth on Milwaukee’s north side, the sixth on the west side, and the 7th on the southwest side. Thus about 133 voters were interviewed in each of the districts.
  • Was this poll a “push poll”?  According to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), there are several tests that can be used to tell whether a poll is a push poll:
    • They use a very large sample size, more than the 400 to 1500 typical of legitimate polls. The ASA poll interview 400 people of whom only the 134 voted in the sixth district were asked the question quoted above.
    • They are short, asking only a handful of questions, so they can reach more voters. The ASA poll had 37 questions.
    • They do not ask for demographic data. The ASA survey had a series of demographic questions at the end.
  • Did the poll survey people outside Milwaukee? The sample was chosen from people who voted in the three districts. If they moved since voting, it is possible they would have been called, but the second question asked how likely the person was to vote in the April Milwaukee school board election. If the answer was less than 50%, the interviewer was instructed to stop the interview. Thus someone living outside Milwaukee who said they intended to vote in the school board election would be expressing an intent to break the law.
  • Did ASA sponsor any other polls? No. It appears that candidates sponsored polls aimed at identifying supporters. Also it appears that at least one other organization sponsored a poll.
  • Is ASA a pro-voucher and/or an anti-union group? No. ASA’s sole aim was work towards a strong and responsible school board. The most important job of the current board is choosing a new superintendent. A continuation of the disarray on the previous board would make that job more difficult and encourage concerned citizens to turn to alternative governance structures.
  • Can I get more information on the poll? Yes. Both the full poll results (pdf format) and the poll questionnaire (Word document) are available. As are the cross tabs (warning: very large pdf file) and an additional cross tab on residency (pdf).