Most Americans agree that communities thrive when they have access to high-quality education. Polls show that voters expect more out of the nation’s public schools. Yet, just 4 percent of Americans think education is the country’s most important problem, according to Gallup. The question is, “Why so few?”
There seems to be a disconnect between how people view their local schools and how they view schools nationwide. More than 50 percent of Americans give their local public schools an A or a B grade, according to the 2015 Education Next Poll. Ask Americans to grade public schools nationwide, however, and only 23 percent give an A or B grade.
Americans are concerned about education nationwide, but not as much as they would be if they were more concerned about their local schools.
Even if Americans were concerned about their local schools, it’s not clear they would expect the president, or anyone else at the federal level, to do something about it.
The Education Writers Association organized a bipartisan panel to discuss education and the 2016 election Thursday. “Americans don’t draw a line directly from Washington to their local schools,” said Charles Barone, director of policy at Democrats for Education Reform. “They just don’t see that.”
The other panellists concurred. “You tend not to vote for national office because you expect it’s going to have a big impact on your local schools,” said Rick Hess, the conservative American Enterprise Institute’s Director of Education Policy Studies. “When education plays a notable role in national elections, it’s usually more for its symbolic importance.” He gave the example of President George W. Bush using education as part of his compassionate conservatism platform. On the left, the 2016 Democratic candidates include free higher education in their bundle of free stuff to give away, Hess said.
The public’s view of education as mainly a local issue is justified. The federal government provides only 10 cents of every dollar spent on public schools. That said, under President Obama’s invasive Department of Education, it sometimes feels as if the federal role is disproportionate with its level of funding.
Still, if Americans have a complaint with their schools, they’re more likely to go straight to the source: A teacher or principal, if they have a student; if not, the local school board or a state legislator. Not only are these people closer to the situation, they typically don’t have hundreds of thousands of constituents like members of Congress do.
If the congressional attempt to fix No Child Left Behind is successful, K-12 education would become even more localized. The bill under consideration would restrict much of the Secretary of Education’s power. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been giving states waivers from No Child Left Behind’s penalties in exchange for adoption of certain policies, such as the Common Core educational standards. In response, the bill would prohibit the Department of Education from giving states positive or negative incentives to adopt specific policies. That bill passed a conference committee Thursday, and is expected to be voted on for final passage in the House and Senate by the end of the year.
Many of the Republican candidates for president have great education records. Jeb Bush, John Kasich and Chris Christie, Scott Walker and Bobby Jindal were all mentioned as having impressive records on education by Marty West, an assistant professor of education at Harvard.
Note that two of the five candidates West mentioned have dropped out. Clearly, a strong education record will earn a governor respect, but it won’t help much with the daily grind of presidential politics, where education is only rarely discussed.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
