Data restored from a 1981 survey indicate that a bare majority of Iowans approved of the legislature’s decision to hold down school funding while at the same time a majority thought doing so would harm Iowa’s public schools. Iowans from metro areas were more opposed and more expected harm compared to those living in towns or cities and those living on farms. These data come from Iowa Poll #248, a random sample survey of 1011 Iowans from April 1981, which has been restored as part of a larger IPOL project to recover lost data from past Iowa Polls.

The first question asked, “Do you think the Iowa Legislature’s decision to hold down school spending will harm or not harm the educational program in your public school district”. The response options were “will harm”, “will not harm” and “don’t know”. Among respondents, 50.1% answered “will harm” and 43.3% of respondents answered “will not harm”. The second question asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the Legislature’s decision to hold down public school spending?”. The available responses were “approve”, “disapprove”, or “no opinion”. 55.5% of respondents reported approval of the legislature’s decision, while 39.2% reported disapproval. 

When comparing these two variables with the question of where Iowans live, the level of urbanity further divided Iowans on these topics. Iowans from metropolitan areas with more than 50,000 residents were split on the decision, with 47.3% stating approval and 48.2% stating disapproval. Among metropolitan respondents, at 56.6%, the majority answered that the decision “will harm” the public school district while 36.7% answered “will not harm”. Iowans living in rural areas felt differently, with 52.8% answering that the decision “will not harm” schools and 68.2% of rural respondents reporting approval of the legislature’s decision. Those living in towns or cities fell in between, with 56.8% approving and 49.3% saying reduced spending would harm public schools. 

Iowa Poll #248, conducted by the Des Moines Register, was administered to a random sample of Iowans in April 1981. In addition to the questions about school funding, the survey asked respondents their opinions on a wide variety of topics, including the recent assassination attempt on President Reagan, personal finances, handguns, smoking habits, and the U.S. response to a hypothetical invasion of Poland by the Soviet Union. Understanding Iowans’ past opinions on these topics can help us understand how perspectives have changed and what ideas have remained popular. IPOL has also been working with UI Libraries and the Des Moines Register to restore data from dozens of Iowa Polls from the 1960s to early 1980s. More information about the project can be found here. We are working to release a full report on our findings as we analyze additional questions.