Politics of Education

Enrique Alemán Jr

The importance of education issues to the citizenry is clear. Public opinion polls and surveys of the U.S. electorate consistently show education at or near the top of a list of issues that interest them. For example, in national survey reports copublished by the Public Education Network and Education Week, citizens put education issues at the top of their list of concerns. In a 2003 report titled Demanding Quality Public Education in Tough Economic Times: What Voters Want From Elected Officials, 55 percent of those surveyed consider education the top national priority, followed by health care (51 percent), jobs and economic development (37 percent), retirement and social security (36 percent), and terrorism and security (28 percent). Reports published in 2001 and 2002 showed similar results. Politicians view this as an invitation to propose programs and policy solutions to the “problems” existing in pubic education. Similarly, local politics between school board ...

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