Mike Mathes, who is the Seaman school district superintendent, talks Tuesday about a new survey that found strong support of Kansas public schools. Public schools are facing the budget ax from the Kansas Legislature. Mathes was among several education officials who spoke about the survey in the library at Logan Elementary in Topeka.

Topeka ? As legislators consider deeper cuts to public school funding, education officials on Tuesday touted a new survey that showed strong support of Kansas public schools.

“We hear a lot from anti-tax people,” said Mike Mathes, Seaman school district superintendent and president-elect of the Kansas School Superintendents Association. “It’s a vocal minority who are saying that schools are failing. I think this is a piece of data that says our public schools aren’t failing and it is a good investment,” he said.

The statewide survey showed that 82 percent of Kansans give their local school district a grade of A or B. Ninety-five percent say that up-to-date school buildings and student technology are important, and 94 percent said they “strongly agree” or “agree” that Kansas students should have access to equal educational opportunities, regardless of where they live.

Other survey results:

• 83 percent said protecting funding for public education should be one of the highest priorities of state government.

• 89 percent said public education is worth the investment of tax dollars.

• 89 percent said decisions about what is best for local school districts should be left to local school boards.

• 85 percent said extracurricular activities, such as sports, band and debate, are an important part of an overall education.

Mark Tallman, a lobbyist with the Kansas Association of School Boards, said he hoped the information would help legislators as they continue working on state budgets for the rest of this fiscal year and the next fiscal year, which starts July 1.

“The public is concerned that we could end up damaging a system that they really value,” he said.

Since the recession hit, school funding has been cut several times. Per pupil funding, which includes base state aid, weighted additions, and special education dollars, would be $6,447 under Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget proposal. That is down from $7,277 per pupil back in 2008.

The telephone survey included 500 completed interviews of registered voters taken from Feb. 9 to Feb. 23. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percent.

The research project was done by Patron Insight Inc. of Stilwell and co-funded by the Kansas Association of School Boards, Kansas School Superintendents Association, and the United School Administrators of Kansas.