A poll released Tuesday by the N.C. Association of Educators shows a majority of North Carolinians surveyed favor higher taxes on alcohol and tobacco and increased income taxes for the wealthy over of cutting funding for public education.

Interviews were conducted with 604 people statewide by a Washington, D.C.-based research firm during the week of May 7. Twenty-seven percent of respondents said they had children in K-12 public schools, while 72 percent said they did not have school-age children.

According to the poll results, improving public education (46%) ranked second only to jobs and the economy (53%) as a priority for the governor and state legislators.

"We're certainly not surprised that North Carolinians understand how important public schools are to the future of our state and that -- even as we face a budget shortfall -- elected leaders should look elsewhere to reduce spending and raise revenue," said Sheri Strickland, NCAE president. "Our citizens know that money spent on education is an investment in our children, not just an expenditure on a balance sheet."  Click on the video link above to hear more from Strickland on poll results.

When asked about 10 specific options to help balance the state budget, respondents selected the following as their top three choices:
*Seventy-six percent support higher taxes on alcohol and tobacco
*Seventy-five percent support closing corporate tax loopholes on out-of-state corporations
*Sixty-three percent support raising personal income taxes on households making over $150,000 per year

Among the lowest ranking choices:
*Fourteen percent supported cutting the number of teachers in public schools and raising class sizes
*Twenty-five percent supported cutting pre-kindergarten programs
*Thirty percent favored raising the state sales tax

Seventy-three percent of respondents also said that schools need more money to do a good job.

The poll comes on the heels of a recommendation by the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on Education to cut education funding dramatically in the 2009-2010 school year. The recommendation presented Thursday, May 21, called for increased class sizes with the potential elimination of more than 6,000 classroom teacher positions and 4,663 teacher assistant jobs.

While the sub-committee's report did not make recommendations on revenue solutions, legislators have been considering targeted taxes as a way to improve the budget outlook for the coming year. The NCAE poll indicated that North Carolinians do not favor some targeted taxes. Only 17 percent of respondents said they favor raising taxes on services like auto repair.