Education Issues Bidding for Voters' Attention

New Jersey gubernatorial candidates, from left, Republican Chris Christie, Independent Chris Daggett, and Gov. Jon Corzine, the Democratic incumbent, meet the audience prior to their final debate at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., on Oct. 16.

—Christopher Barth/AP

Schooling Figures in Key Mayoral, Gubernatorial Races in Off-Year Elections

By Erik W. Robelen

In a relatively quiet electoral season, education is making some noise in a number of campaigns around the country, from the New York City mayoral race and New Jersey governor’s contest to ballot measures in Washington state and Maine.

Voters in Maine, for instance, will consider measures with big implications for public schools, including a proposal to repeal a 2007 law requiring consolidation of many small school districts and an initiative designed to rein in state and local spending that could constrain education aid.

Generating at least as much heat is an initiative that would overturn Maine’s new law allowing same-sex marriages. Those seeking to overturn the law have put out television ads suggesting it would lead to the widespread teaching of gay marriage in schools, an effect...