The education culture war is raging. But for most parents, it’s background noise

Math textbooks axed for their treatment of race; a viral Twitter account directing ire at LGBTQ teachers; a state law forbidding classroom discussion of sexual identity in younger grades; a board book for babies targeted as “pornographic.” Lately it seems there’s a new controversy erupting every day over how race, […] Read more »

California: More than Four in Ten Parents Say Their Children Have Fallen Behind Academically during the Pandemic

As conditions in California schools get closer to normal, more than four in ten parents say their children have fallen behind academically during the pandemic. Most Californians approve of the way Governor Newsom is handling K–12 public education, while around half say that a shortage of teachers in public schools […] Read more »

Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll

A national poll released today by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School indicates that while 18-to-29-year-olds are on track to match 2018’s record-breaking youth turnout in a midterm election this November and prefer Democratic control 55%-34%, there was a sharp increase in youth believing that “political involvement rarely […] Read more »

How to Make School Board Culture Wars Even Worse

… The overwhelming majority of school board races around the country are nonpartisan. This was the case in Tennessee until Republican lawmakers, during an emergency session called to deal with Covid-related issues, rammed through legislation permitting county parties to hold primary elections to select school board nominees, who can then […] Read more »

No Public Consensus on How Schools Should Discuss Sexuality and Racism

Americans are largely divided about the role of public schools in teaching children about issues related to sexuality and racism, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. While several state and local governments […] Read more »

LGBTQ issues are at center stage. What does the public think?

In the years after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, the Republican Party seemed to gradually conclude that it had lost the battle over LGBTQ rights — and that it wasn’t really worth fighting anymore. … But it’s possible that, in the years since Obergefell v. Hodges, LGBT […] Read more »