Thanks to The American Independent for highlighting this recent poll, “commissioned by the National Education Association,” which has some fascinating findings on what 2024 likely voters think about public education. See below for a few takeaways, which clearly show that “both parents and nonparents of school-aged children—are very concerned about a wide range of challenges facing schools, including a lack of funding, school safety and shootings, teacher shortages, students falling behind academically, and insufficient mental health support,” while “the issues that right-wing elected officials, candidates, and media are focused on — so-called ‘culture war’ issues such as ‘Critical Race Theory’ (‘CRT’), or ‘grooming’ by ‘radical’ teachers — are not top-tier worries.” In sum, voters – other than very conservative ones – are NOT in sync with Glenn Youngkin and the Virginia GOP’s education focus. At all.
- “Culture war issues like teachers ‘grooming’ students or pushing an LGBTQ+ agenda fall to the bottom of the list, and are only considered serious problems by Republicans. Particularly, conservative Republicans prioritize these issues over all others, while moderate Republicans are concerned about a wider variety of topics.”
- “Democrats and Independents are more concerned about safety and funding, while Republicans are concerned about parental control and gender“
- “Going into the new school year, a new national survey shows voters—both parents and nonparents of school-aged children—are very concerned about a wide range of challenges facing schools, including a lack of funding, school safety and shootings, teacher shortages, students falling behind academically, and insufficient mental health support. By comparison, the issues that right-wing elected officials, candidates, and media are focused on — so-called ‘culture war’ issues such as ‘Critical Race Theory’ (‘CRT’), or ‘grooming’ by ‘radical’ teachers — are not top-tier worries.”
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