Missouri poll gauges thoughts on income tax, cellphones in schools
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Former students and teachers are reacting to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and layoffs at the Department of Education.
- Regarding education, a majority of voters support prohibiting cellphone access in schools and requiring the teaching of digital literacy topics.
- Missourians are divided on banning foreign-owned social media platforms like TikTok, with 46% in favor and 34% opposed.
A new statewide poll provides a glimpse into how Missourians feel about current political leaders, the state of the economy, public education policies and policing at both the state and national levels. Particularly, voters were asked about the proposed elimination of Missouri’s state income tax and policies of cellphones in schools.
Saint Louis University and YouGov surveyed 900 likely Missouri voters from Feb. 18 to March 2. The margin of error for the survey results is 3.64%.
With Republicans in power in both federal and state governments, a majority of those surveyed approve of elected leadership and believe both the country and Missouri are on the right track and headed in a good direction. However, people are still pessimistic about the economy, with 84% of responders rating the national economy as fair or poor. This is the worst rating the survey has recorded since February 2023, Steve Rogers, the poll director and a political scientist at St. Louis University, said.
“In this, there’s a little bit of a conundrum in which it’s like … people think it’s still not very strong, but then they’re very approving of the political actors, which is probably reflecting polarization, kind of within the state and country,” he said.
Eliminating state income tax
Republican state lawmakers have been pushing for Missouri to eliminate the income tax and instead depend on sales tax for revenue. While voters generally seem in support of the proposal, many still remain unsure, according to the poll results.
The poll showed total 52% people supported the elimination with 25% opposing and 23% not sure. Answers largely fell along political lines, with 73% of Republicans surveyed in support. A large portion of Democrats, 30%, were unsure and 47% were opposed.
The poll also asked which transactions responders would be most willing to tax to make up for the lost revenue if the income tax was eliminated. Even more people were unsure at 46% total. From the options provided, 15% selected professional services like accounting and legal services to make up the revenue. Other options included auto and home repair services, real estate transfers and inheritances. For this question, the sample size was 450, with a 5.3% margin of error.
Rogers said the uncertainty about how to make up revenue is likely due to the complexities of government. He noted the survey also asked in which areas voters would be most willing to cut spending, but that dataset is still being processed.
“In other research I’ve done more nationwide, individuals, for example, don’t have a very good comprehension of, like, state budgets themselves, like even the size of state budgets, or what is kind of going into it,” Rogers said. “So, then here it may be something where, if we’re kind of having this debate about taxes and things like that, we need to kind of inform voters a little bit more about what are the alternatives and the options.”
Technology in schools
State Rep. Jamie Gragg, a Republican from Ozark, filed a bill this session to outlaw student use of cellphones in schools during any instructional time. The bill would require districts to adopt a written policy for the 2025-26 school year prohibiting cellphone or other internet-connected device in any elementary, middle or high school during “regularly scheduled instructional activities.”
The poll asked voters whether they were in favor or opposed to such a measure at each educational level. Across all three school levels, most people were supportive of the restrictions, with 76% in support for elementary schools, 75% for middle schools, and 70% for high schools.
The poll also included several questions about requiring Missouri public schools to teach several different subjects. A strong majority of responders were in support of requiring schools to teach about the importance of the right to freedom of speech, how to identify online misinformation, the purpose and acceptable use of social media platforms, social media’s negative effects on mental health, and how to appropriately use artificial intelligence in educational and workplace settings.
The poll also asked whether people were in favor of providing each student a personal laptop or tablet to use in the classroom for educational purposes at each educational level. While for elementary schools opinions were mixed with both those in favor and opposed at around 43%, more favored providing students with personal tech devices in middle and high school.
Ashley Burle, the associate poll director and director of graduate admission at SLU’s School of Education, said that a significant difference was noticeable between white and Black voters on the topic of technology provided to elementary school students. Where 72% of Black voters favored providing laptops or tablets at the elementary level, only 40% of white voters did the same.
Overall, ratings for public schools in their local communities and in Missouri remain negative. Local public schools were rated as fair or poor by 55% of voters and public schools across the state were rated as fair or poor by 66% of respondents. Based on last year’s results, the ratings of schools within the community have worsened by about a percentage point, whereas perceptions of schools statewide actually improved by 7 percentage points.
Burle said there are several factors, both local and otherwise, that can influence perceptions of the state of public schools, whether that be how well local schools address parent concerns or if any controversies are present on local boards.
Local control of police
Last week, the Missouri legislature sent a bill to the governor’s desk that would put the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department in the hands of a state board, rather than a local one as is currently the case. If the legislation becomes law, St. Louis would join Kansas City in being controlled by a board appointed by the governor and Missouri Senate, becoming the only major U.S. cities with a police force under state control, according to Missouri Independent reporting.
The poll showed most people favor leaving both cities’ police in the hands of local leadership, though many were unsure.
Eliminating U.S. Department of Education
President Donald Trump has pledged to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, with widespread reports that an executive order to do so was in the works. The department announced last week nearly 50% of the workforce will be cut.
The poll indicates Missourians are mostly opposed to the notion of eliminating the department with 42% and 10% being strongly opposed and somewhat opposed respectively. Still, more than a third indicated they either strongly or somewhat supported the elimination. While 87% of Democrats strongly opposed, 43% of Republicans strongly supported the elimination.
Rogers said the fairly collective opposition to shutting down the department stands out against the likely voters’ strong approval of Trump. The president received a 56% approval rating, which is the highest the poll has seen, Rogers said, only trailing the 53% approval ratings of former Gov. Mike Parson and Sen. Josh Hawley in 2021. The responses to the poll ended March 2, ahead of several decisions related to the Department of Education.
TikTok ban
With a lot of back-and-forth surrounding the federal ban on TikTok, one of the questions asked Missourians to weigh in on whether the federal government should outlaw social media platforms owned by foreign corporations.
Voters appear to have mixed feelings on the topic. In total, 46% respondents were in favor of such a ban, but 34% and 20% were opposed and not sure, respectively. Younger people were more stringently opposed, with 64% of 18- to 29-year-olds not in support of a ban. Republicans were the most strongly in favor of a ban, with 62% agreeing.
Currently, TikTok is facing an April 5 deadline for the owner ByteDance to divest the app. According to USA Today reporting, President Donald Trump is working with “four different groups” interested in purchasing TikTok.
Artificial intelligence
As technology continues to advance and artificial intelligence has become an increasingly prominent talking point, several questions covered policies surrounding restrictions on the use of AI.
Most people were supportive of prohibiting students from using AI on schoolwork and prohibiting the use of AI-generated content in political advertisements. Likewise, even a stronger majority across political party lines supported requiring political advertisements to include a disclaimer if they contain AI-generated content.
Marta Mieze covers local government at the News-Leader. Have feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at [email protected].
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