As Democratic party leaders convene in Chicago to formally nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as their party’s presidential candidate, a new poll shows that public education is a potent campaign issue—especially among parents.
While the country is deeply divided on many issues, the latest PDK International poll on American attitudes toward education finds there are some education-related issues that have strong support across the political spectrum.
“There is an overwhelming number of Americans that support a focus on preparing students to enter the workforce and for attracting and retaining good teachers in our schools,” said PDK International CEO James Lane during a press briefing. “But there were three other topics that broke that 70 percent support threshold: increased focus on student mental health, helping students that have fallen behind academically—that post-COVID recovery—and then college affordability.”
Fifty-four percent of Americans say that public education will be extremely or very important in their vote for president, similar to what respondents said in a 2020 poll by PDK International. Traditionally, education is rarely a central focus of presidential campaigns for Democratic or Republican candidates.
Meanwhile, 70 percent of parents of school-age children said public education is either an extremely or very important election issue for them.
Overall, 6 in 10 Americans say they will support political candidates who vow to increase public school funding. That number is even higher among Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and parents, with 70 percent of each of those groups saying they favor candidates who promise to allocate more money to public education.
Where Democrats and Republicans differ on education issues
The poll draws from a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults who were surveyed online in English and Spanish in late June. In its 56th year, the poll is an important gauge of American’s attitudes toward public education.
While there are several education issues with strong bipartisan agreement, there are some with large gaps of support between Democrats and Republicans. Among them: protecting students from discrimination in schools, access to public pre-K, and expanding charter schools.
That last item was the lowest priority among all respondents, with 35 percent of Americans saying expanding charter schools should receive increased focus from the next administration. Half of Republicans said it should be a priority, while only 22 percent of Democrats agreed—a similar finding to the 2020 PDK poll.
“With $440 million of federal money going into [expanding charter schools] every year, I just thought that at least one of the parties would have a majority of support for it,” said Lane.
This year’s poll did not ask about school vouchers or education savings accounts, which have become a popular education policy among Republicans, especially at the state level. The GOP’s 2024 platform calls for implementing universal school choice policies in all states, which would allow families to use public funds to pay for private school tuition.
When it comes to protecting students from discrimination in schools, 81 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of independents, and 45 percent of Republicans indicated that should be a priority for the next presidential administration. The survey did not define the type of discrimination.
On access to free public pre-K, 71 percent of Democrats said it should be a priority, compared with 50 percent of independents and 48 percent of Republicans.
There are, however, several education policies that have strong bipartisan support.
Making sure that students are prepared to enter the workforce is an especially animating issue across the political board. Eighty-eight percent of Republicans and 83 percent of Democrats and independents say they want the next administration to focus more federal attention on that area. That strong bipartisan support is reflected in the Democratic and GOP 2024 education platforms, both of which call for supporting more focus on job preparation in high schools.
Why Americans don’t want their children to become teachers
While Americans want students to be prepared for the workforce, there is one profession most of them want to see their children avoid: teaching. Sixty percent of Americans say they would not support their children choosing public school teaching for a career.
While that’s about the same response as in 2022, the last time this question was asked in a PDK International poll, it represents a staggering change over the past four decades. In 1969, three-quarters of Americans supported the idea of their children working as a public school teacher.
Here again we see a partisan divide: Democrats are 12 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say they support their children becoming teachers. Meanwhile, liberals—which the survey differentiates from Democrats—are the only group where 50 percent of respondents are comfortable with their children becoming public school educators.
For the first time this year, PDK International asked poll respondents why they don’t see teaching as an attractive career for their children. The most commonly cited reasons were inadequate pay and benefits, which 33 percent selected, and a lack of student discipline, which 27 percent selected.
Both the Democratic and Republican party platforms put forth policy priorities related to teaching profession this election.
The DNC platform, which was approved this week, pledges to recruit more teachers, paraprofessionals, and other educators through expanding high school training programs and raising teacher pay. The GOP platform calls for ending teacher tenure and adopting merit pay.
While Americans don’t want their own children going into public education, attracting and retaining good teachers is another issue—along with student mental health—that sees strong support among Democrats, Republicans, and independents, Lane said.
Eighty-nine percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Republicans, and 77 percent of independents said this is an issue that the next administration should focus more on.
“Sometimes in politics, it’s talked about the differences between ideologies, but when we have such clear similarities and areas we can all agree on, I think that’s such a great opportunity,” said Lane.
Americans’ views on Biden and Trump’s education records
The poll also found that Americans’ views on President Joe Biden’s education track record are nearly identical to former President Donald Trump’s at this point in his presidency. Forty-five percent of Americans approve, and 50 percent disapprove, of Biden’s handling of education policy today, compared with 45 percent approving and 53 percent disapproving of Trump’s handling of education policy in the summer of 2020.
While politics—and how the next presidential administration might shape public schooling—is front and center right now, poll respondents also weighed in on another powerful force changing education: artificial intelligence.
Most—60 percent—are comfortable with teachers using AI in prepping lessons and student tutoring and standardized test prep. However, only 43 percent said they supported students using AI to help complete their homework.
