This survey, the first of a series based on annual opinion polls, provides an objective analysis of public opinion on significant questions in American education. Based on a representative sample of adults in the nation, the report measures the kinds and amounts of information possessed by representative citizens regarding local schools and gauges their willingness to vote tax increases when a need for greater financial assistance arises. Also indicated are the attitudes of the public toward teachers, the teaching profession, and local school boards; the kinds of information the public would like to have about their local schools; the degree of citizen sensitivity to school problems; and some criticisms of school policies. (Author/JF)