A new poll released this month found that the majority of voters believe that America’s public schools should focus more on reading, writing, science and social studies to improve the quality of education in the country. This comes as many school districts have been exposed for implementing lessons on gender theory, Critical Race Theory, and other divisive subjects into curriculum. And, studies have shown that students have fallen behind in subjects like reading and math since lockdowns.
The poll included 2,605 likely voters, including 1,035 Republicans, 1,074 Democrats and 496 Independents (via The Center Square):
Almost two-thirds of registered voters said they thought focusing on “core subject areas such as math, reading, writing, science and social studies” would improve the quality of public education, by far the top policy position supported by those surveyed.
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Of those surveyed who have children under the age of 18, 55% say focusing on core subjects is essential to improving education, while 70% of parents with children over the age of 18 say the same thing.
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Only 25% of voters said that spending more classroom time on social-emotional learning would improve education outcomes, the poll found.
Half of voters also supported teacher pay increases, according to the poll. Reducing classroom size and letting parents send children to charter or other schools using tax dollars were the next most popular policy changes, with 36% and 27% support from voters, respectively.
Alex Nester, an investigative fellow at parental rights organization Parents Defending Education told Chalkboard News that “race and gender ideology issues coming up in class that focus more on dividing students instead of bringing them together,” adding that, “you’ve got things taking up time like social-emotional learning, surveys every morning.”
“Time in the classroom is a zero-sum game,” Nester continued. “And there are lots of things taking time away from the classroom.”
The poll also found that voters support policies informing parents of children’s gender transition changes. This falls in line with earlier polls Townhall has reported on (via The Center Square):
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Sixty-six percent of registered voters indicated teachers should have to tell parents about changes to their student’s gender identity.
The demographic that signaled the least support for the notification policy was Democrats, with 49% supporting it, and 30% of Democrats opposing it. Republicans and independent voters supported the measure at much higher rates, 83% and 62%, respectively.
An earlier Voter’s Voice poll from The Center Square found that a slight majority of voters say they support some kind of school choice measures.
