HOW UTAH FAMILIES REALLY FEEL ABOUT OPTIONAL FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN
Most recently, a poll of registered voters released by AARP Utah in December 2022 revealed that 67% of those surveyed said they support "Utah allocating more state income tax revenue to early childhood programs and services such as all-day kindergarten, preschool or child care."
The AARP commissioned Alan Newman Research to conduct this phone survey of a representative sample of 1004 registered Utah voters.
In March 2022, the Deseret News shared the results of a statewide poll regarding Utahns' support for optional full-day kindergarten.
The poll, conducted for the Deseret News and the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics, revealed that nearly 3/4ths of Utahns (72% of those surveyed) support a FDK option for families. Only 16% were opposed.
Dan Jones & Associates conducted the poll of 804 registered voters in Utah, with a margin of error of +/-3.45 percentage points.
This poll affirms the results of a 2021 statewide survey of 1,976 registered Utah voters conducted by Utah-based polling firm Y2 Analytics, with a margin of error of +/-2.2 percentage points. That poll found:
More than 2/3 of surveyed voters (68%) said they would "support the expansion of optional full-day kindergarten programs in all public schools throughout Utah."
In Davis County, 73% supported FDK expansion.
In Salt Lake County, 71% were supportive.
In Weber County, 65% were supportive.
In Utah County, 64% were supportive.
In Washington County, 59% were supportive.
Across all other counties, 67% of respondents supported FDK expansion.
A strong majority of surveyed voters expressed willingness to pay additional taxes to support FDK expansion to reach more Utah families.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) said they would pay an additional $5 in taxes each year to fund FDK expansion.
Fifty-seven percent (57%) said they would pay an additional $65 in taxes.
Utahns have largely positive perceptions of full-day kindergarten.
Three times as many Utah voters said that FDK is better than half-day kindergarten programs, than those who thought half-day was better.
About 2.5 as many agreed that expanding the availability of FDK programs would improve public education in Utah, than whose who disagreed.
A majority of survey respondents (56%) agreed that FDK programs help under-privileged Utah students catch up with their peers.
A majority (62%) also agreed that expanding FDK would strengthen our state economy by supporting more parents in working during the day.