Public Education Heading into 2004
While Americans remain worried about terrorism and the current slump has heightened concern about the economy, education is likely to be a feature of public debate in the run-up to the presidential election. Each quarter Ipsos Public Affairs asks Americans the open-ended question: What are the most important problems facing the U.S. today? The economy was most often seen as the most important issue (41%), followed by healthcare (28%), unemployment (24%), and terrorism (23%). But of equal concern to Americans as terrorism, is education (23%).
Approximately half of the general population say the public education system is good, while up to one third believe the public education system is poor. Issues like the state of the public education system, the implementation of the NCLB, schools obtaining or failing to meet the proficiency standards outlined in NCLB, the requirement for fully certified teachers, and education funding shortfalls, will no doubt be part of the story of the 2004 presidential election.
The NCLB Act
In January 2002, President Bush promoted and signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, designed to close the achievement gap, but congress is accused of not assigning the funds necessary to achieve the goals outlined in the NCLB.
The NCLB Act states that every child will be 'proficient'. There has been much debate about what that actually means. Voters and parents are no less confused than the education officials who have been charged with fulfilling this goal, Ipsos research shows. Most Americans do not feel knowledgeable about the Act either, though parents are experiencing the Act through changes at their children's schools and awareness is growing.
The NCLB Act also calls for all public education teachers to be fully certified in the subjects they teach by 2005/2006. Not surprisingly, voters and parents favor this component of the NCLB Act. However, there is already a teacher shortage, and qualitative research shows that voters and parents are concerned about future shortages and do not feel it is fair to require current teachers to bear the financial burden all by themselves to meet the new certification requirements in the law.
Given these concerns, it is hardly surprising that barely one in three voters believe that the NCLB Act will be effective in improving student achievement in their communities.
Funding for Education
State governments are broke. Funding cuts are the bad education news that parents and voters, by their own accounts, hear the most about. Ipsos research on behalf of the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) shows that voters choose education as their number one domestic federal spending priority, over prescription drug benefits, tax cuts, environmental protection programs and unemployment benefits. (Anti-terrorism and the military were not included in order to focus on traditional domestic program priorities.)
Overall, 81% of voters favor increasing federal funding for education, with 54% strongly favoring increasing federal funding for education. Independents are more likely to side with Democrats in supporting higher spending on education, with 86% of self-identified independents in favor of increased federal funding for education.
Will the state of public education affect President Bush's reelection plans? Tracking data from the Ipsos/Cook Political Report shows that the American public has lost a great deal more confidence in Bush's handling of foreign policy and the war on terrorism, handling of the economy, and his overall performance than on domestic issues like education, healthcare, the environment and energy (see tables below). But his approval ratings on domestic issues have decreased steadily since the beginning of 2002, and growing concern will make education a much discussed issue in the upcoming 2004 presidential election year.
