Importance of Education as an Issue
Given the K–12 education system’s relatively lackluster performance in the eyes of the American public, you might imagine that education is among the most important issues capturing the nation’s attention leading up to the presidential election. If so, you would be mistaken.
The way pollsters ask about this issue matters. The PDK Poll asked the question, “Thinking ahead to the election in November, how important is the issue of public education in your vote for president?” Majorities of American adults (54%) and public-school parents (70%) said public education is very or extremely important. However, just because education is perceived as important does not mean it rises to the top of a crowded agenda.
The EdChoice Schooling in America Survey framed the question differently. They provided a lengthy list of political issues and asked respondents to rank the three issues most important to them. Only 15% of the public placed K–12 education in their top three. This percentage rose to 27% among parents of school-age children. However, K–12 education still trailed behind quite a few other issues, including jobs and the economy (public: 60%, parents: 63%), healthcare (public: 41%, parents: 43%), gun violence (public: 34%, parents: 31%), and immigration (public: 32%, parents: 28%).
Gallup, which has asked its “most important problem” question on a nearly monthly basis since 2001, does not provide a list of issues from which respondents can choose. Instead, the question allows respondents to provide any answer, and the survey research firm categorizes their responses. In their most recent survey, only 2% mentioned education in their answer—a fraction of the percentage that mentioned the high cost of living or inflation (15%), the economy in general (18%), or immigration (19%).
Within the broader category of education, some issues are perceived as more important than others. The PDK Poll asked respondents to opine on what the next presidential administration, regardless of who wins the election, ought to prioritize (see Figure 3). The nuts-and-bolts of teaching and learning topped the list: 84% wanted the next administration to focus more on preparing students to enter the workforce, and 81% wanted the next administration to focus more on efforts to attract and retain good teachers. Reforms that captured quite a bit of media attention over the last decade, such as the availability of public pre-K programs (56%) and the expansion of charter schools (35%), garnered less enthusiasm.
The EdChoice Schooling in America Survey also captured Americans’ desire to refocus on the fundamentals. The most popular education issues were school safety (66% of the public ranked this in their top three issues), curriculum (41%), and school funding (41%). Other issues, including some that have landed at the center of recent political debates, were perceived as less important by the American public: parental choice in K–12 education (20%), technology in K–12 education (15%), and democratic values and citizenship (15%).
In sum, there is little evidence that K–12 education is among the most pressing issues on the public agenda as the 2024 presidential election approaches. However, when pressed on the education issues that matter most to them, Americans express less interest in the heated debates about democratic values, technology in the classroom, and school choice. Instead, they want elected officials to focus on hiring and keeping good teachers, the content of the curriculum, school spending, and students’ safety.
