This EdWeek story by Alyson Klein does a great job summarizing the new Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll on the public’s attitudes toward public schools.

Basically, more people think Barack Obama, and Democrats in general, would do a better job helping schools than John McCain and the GOP.

What this poll says to me, though, is how truly uninformed many people are about where the candidates stand on education, which has been an issue that hasn’t received the attention it perhaps deserves.

For example, one-quarter of the poll’s respondents don’t know which candidate would do a better job improving public schools, and even more don’t know which party they favor on the issue.

Perhaps more telling is that more people think Obama would do a better job promoting parental choice. Forty-three percent think Obama is the candidate who will best promote parental choice, compared to 32 percent for McCain. Either Sen. McCain needs to do a much better job telling people that parental choice is one of his core educational values, or people are so enthralled with Obama that they want to give him high marks on everything.