Parents feel that reciting the pledge of allegiance in school might be a good idea, but when asked if the policy should be mandatory, the same people voiced staunch opposition to thoughts of required patriotism.

A statewide Illinois Policy Survey conducted by the Center for Governmental Studies at NIU, indicated 85 percent of Illinois adults surveyed think that it is a good idea for students to recite the pledge of allegiance in school. However, when asked if government should require all students to recite the pledge, 73 percent of residents surveyed said “No”.

This was one of many questions asked in a survey conducted by telephone between November and December last year. The questions in the survey focused on issues debated between candidates in the last presidential election. Questions regarding taxes and education made up the majority of the survey, with other issues such as the pledge of allegiance included. The survey is conducted by the center every fall and is from 15 to 25 minutes long. Eight hundred five residents, 18 years and older, were surveyed at random, Ellen Dran, a research associate at the center, said.

The ideas of requiring public school children to say the pledge before class and the general opinion toward reciting the pledge voluntarily, were mixed in the presidential election. Therefore, to seperate the two, reseachers asked two seperate questions. The residents surveyed like the patriotic idea of saying the pledge, but do not want to be forced into saying it, Dran said.

The statistics are about the same for both political parties, with supporters of President George Bush favoring students reciting the pledge in school by 93 percent. However, when it came to the government requiring the pledge, 67 percent of the same group responded “No.”

When Massachusett’s Gov. Michael Dukakis supporters were asked, 80 percent favored the reciting of the pledge by students. They also opposed the reciting of the pledge being required of all students with 77 percent saying “No.”

Principle Larry Fullerton of the Chesebro Grade School in DeKalb said, “Students at Chesebro say the pledge of allegiance every morning before they start class. They say it class by class with the teacher leading.” Other schools in DeKalb also say the pledge every morning.

When asked about the survey, Fullerton said that many schools across Illinois still say the pledge, but as indicated by the survey, most residents don’t believe it should be mandatory.

Political Science Professor Bob Albritton said telephone surveys are an inexpensive, efficient way of getting a statewide, random sampling of the population. Telephone surveys are about as reliable as any other type of survey.