The poll found that 69% of the public expressed a preference for improvement through reforming the existing public school system. The number this year is 71%. By contrast, just 27% of respondents in 2002 preferred seeking an alternative system, and that figure is at 24% for 2006. In the poll, 49% give the schools in the community an A or a B. The percentage last year was 48%. The percentage of A's and B's climbs to 56% for public school parents and to 64% when parents grade the school their oldest child attends. The nation's schools continue to draw the lowest grades, with just 21% of the public awarding them an A or a B.