The Salt Lake City Tribune conducted a poll of 1,500 likely Utah voters and found that they disapproved of the Common Core State Standards and the state’s Common Core-aligned SAGE assessment.
Among respondents, 46 percent said schools should stop using SAGE, a computer-adaptive exam taken by students each spring, and 51 percent said Utah should abandon the Common Core, which outlines minimum grade-level expectations in math and English.
Utah’s continued use of SAGE and Common Core was supported by 25 percent and 27 percent of survey participants, respectively, with 28 percent and 22 percent saying they were not sure if schools should continue using the tests and standards.
The poll was performed by SurveyUSA for The Salt Lake Tribune and the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. It was conducted between June 2 and June 8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Utah Governor Gary Herbert is being challenged by a staunch Common Core opponent Jonathan Johnson, and this poll gives some indication as to why Herbert has now come out against Common Core and SAGE in an election year.