School choice is an increasingly important feature of the US educational landscape. Numerous studies examine whether a particular form of school choice promotes student achievement or whether a type of school choice discourages or encourages diversity by race, ethnicity, and ability. Studies also examine attitudes toward school choice, but these studies are typically limited to the views of parents, teachers, and administrators rather than public attitudes. We contribute to this literature by studying public opinion about magnet and charter schools in five southern school districts. Using a new and unique dataset, we examine if social background characteristics, political ideology, and attitudes toward the role of public schooling, neighborhood schools, and school diversity influence citizen opinion regarding magnets and charters. We find that more educated, higher income, and older individuals do not support charters, while conservatives and Republicans do. Whites are less likely to favor magnets than other races, while the more educated are more likely to favor them. Those who believe public schools should operate for the common good support magnets, as do those who favor diverse schools. However, those who favor neighborhood schools support both charters and magnets. We interpret our findings within the context of case studies of the respective locations and suggest that public opinion studies motivate public policies regarding educational choice.

择校是美国教育格局中越来越重要的特征。许多研究调查了特定形式的学校选择是否促进了学生的成就，或者某种学校选择是否会阻碍或鼓励种族、民族和能力的多样性。研究还考察了对学校选择的态度，但这些研究通常仅限于家长、教师和管理人员的观点，而不是公众的态度。我们通过研究关于南部五个学区磁铁学校和特许学校的公众舆论，为这些文献做出贡献。使用新的独特数据集，我们检查社会背景特征、政治意识形态以及对公立学校、社区学校和学校多样性的作用的态度是否会影响公民对磁铁和宪章的看法。我们发现受教育程度更高、收入更高和年龄更大的人不支持宪章，而保守派和共和党人则支持。与其他种族相比，白人不太可能喜欢磁铁，而受教育程度较高的人更有可能喜欢磁铁。那些认为公立学校应该为公共利益而运作的人支持磁铁，那些支持多元化学校的人也是如此。然而，那些支持邻里学校的人同时支持宪章和磁铁。我们在各自地点的案例研究背景下解释我们的发现，并建议舆论研究推动有关教育选择的公共政策。那些认为公立学校应该为共同利益而运作的人支持磁铁，那些支持多元化学校的人也是如此。然而，那些支持邻里学校的人同时支持宪章和磁铁。我们在各自地点的案例研究背景下解释我们的发现，并建议舆论研究推动有关教育选择的公共政策。那些认为公立学校应该为共同利益而运作的人支持磁铁，那些支持多元化学校的人也是如此。然而，那些支持邻里学校的人同时支持宪章和磁铁。我们在各自地点的案例研究背景下解释我们的发现，并建议舆论研究推动有关教育选择的公共政策。