The vast majority of U.S. parents would consider voting for another political party on the basis of shared education values, a new poll found.
Commissioned by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and conducted by the Harris Poll, the survey found that 82% of parents would be willing to support a candidate from another political party if that candidate’s education platform was aligned with their personal views on the issue.
The results held true across party lines, with 88% of independents, 81% of Democrats, and 79% of Republicans all indicating that they would be willing to support a candidate outside their preferred party over education issues.
“Charter schools and parent choice have long enjoyed bipartisan support from lawmakers,” Nina Rees, the president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in a press release. “This poll clearly shows support for education options is stronger than ever among parents, regardless of their political party … The education voter is the new swing voter.”
The poll, which surveyed 5,002 U.S. parents in the last two weeks of May, also found that 83% of parents considered education to be a more important issue to them politically than it had in the past, including 45% of black parents who indicated they felt strongly about the issue.
Additionally, the poll found widespread support for public charter schools, with 84% of those surveyed indicating that they supported the availability of public charter schools, regardless of whether or not they would send their child to a charter school.
The poll results come as the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools is spearheading efforts opposing the Biden administration’s rewrite of Department of Education regulations on the disbursement of federal charter school funds.
The proposed regulation, which was first announced in March, would substantially tighten the rules around which public charter schools would be eligible for federal funding. Critics have said the rules are onerous and could force hundreds of schools to close their doors permanently.
