US voters aren’t buying Republicans’ attacks on public education, NEA poll finds

While many Republicans continue to cast public schools as breeding grounds for critical race theory and gender ideology, a new poll shows that most voters are much more worried about teacher pay and school shootings than they are about social justice issues being taught in schools.

According to a recent poll commissioned by the National Education Association, conservative priorities on education are inconsistent with what most voters actually want.

The poll of 1,400 likely November 2024 voters was conducted in mid-July by GBAO Strategies on behalf of the NEA.

Most of the poll’s respondents ranked issues like overcrowded classrooms, students graduating without being prepared for college, and a lack of school funding for basic needs as either very serious or somewhat serious.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents said politicians banning books was of some concern to them. A total of 59% said the same of “students not getting a complete, honest history of our country.”

Just 24% of poll respondents said they were concerned about students being taught lessons “about the negatives of our country, making kids feel ashamed of being white, and creating more division.”

GBAO Strategies’ poll also showed most voters siding with Democrats when presented with Democratic and Republican positions on education side by side. A majority of voters, 54%, said they would back a Democrat who favored teaching kids “an honest and complete history—not ban books that politicians don’t like”, while 34% said they would vote for a Republican who said that “liberal ideology like CRT distracts kids from learning the basics—like math and reading—to focus instead on studying race.”

The poll also breaks out moderate and conservative Republicans, showing that fewer than half of moderate Republicans indicated support for a Republican candidate focused on culture war education priorities. Conservative Republicans continued to indicate steadfast support for a candidate of their party in any instance.

“Across America, most of us want the same thing – strong public schools where all students, no matter their race, ZIP code, or background, have the resources and opportunities to grow into their full brilliance. In every community across the nation – rural, urban, and suburban alike – parents and educators are partnering to help students thrive,” National Education Association president Becky Pringle said in a statement.

Pringle said she expects many of the policies discussed in the poll to come up during the first Republican primary debate of the 2024 presidential election, on Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Elections matter. And in election after election, voters continue to reject candidates running on the same agenda that nearly all the 2024 GOP candidates have made central to their campaigns,” Pringle said.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.