LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

David A. DeSchryver's comments on the PDK/Gallup Poll were forwarded to me by someone who receives the Doyle Report regularly. I read them with interest. As director of the poll, I receive many comments, directly and indirectly, in the days following the release. I classify them into four groups. The first express appreciation for the information. The second raise questions and ask for a response. The third are not specific enough to be helpful. And the fourth question the heritage, intelligence, sanity, and gene pool of the poll's authors.

I take umbrage at none of the reactions. I am just glad that people read the poll and that some are moved enough to react. Mr. DeSchryver's comments fell into the third of the above categories. I read them with interest but did not find them very helpful. I did, however, take some pleasure in being described as "comically disingenuous" since that elevates me to a level I had not known I could achieve. In terms of this year's reactions, it ranks up there with the respondent who described me a "flaming liberal," a charge that has brought hilarity among those friends who are aware of my generally conservative leanings.

That the conclusions are not justified and that the questions are "leading" are charges frequently made by those not in agreement with the results, never by those in agreement. Voucher proponents, for example, applaud and use the results in years when support rises and reject them as misleading in years when support falls. In any case, the Gallup Organization has full responsibility for determining that the questions are accurate and unbiased and that the findings justify the conclusions drawn. Gallup has a reasonable track record in the field and we accept their judgment.

Mr. DeSchryver seems to feel that the lack of information regarding NCLB means that people cannot make a legitimate response to a question asking whether they believe a single test will give a fair picture of a school's performance. That was, by the way, the question. Placement of a school in an "NCLB category" was never mentioned. I have looked back at the question and it seems reasonable and straightforward to me. More interesting is the fact that Mr. DeSchryver's comments such as "a suspicious 30 percent defied the logical conclusion or sensed something was wrong" and "those in a daydream but kind enough to remain on the phone" imply that he knows what people are thinking and why they think that way. If Mr. DeSchryver can intuit those things, he is wasting his time as a columnist.

Finally, it was interesting to see that, after having trashed the conclusion the poll drew that NCLB has troubles, Mr. DeSchryver drew the conclusion, "It has many troubles." Since that reduces his comments to disagreement with the procedure and not with the accuracy of the conclusion, his time and your space might have been better served by detailing with what the "many troubles" are.

Lowell Rose, Director
PDK/Gallup Poll