Old North News

The poll, conducted by EdTrends for DFER, found that democrats have lost a historic lead on trust in education in several key battleground states including North Carolina, with voters now trusting Republicans more on the issue of education.

“The crisis in education has mounted into one voters simply cannot ignore. Voters—especially parents—want to see more choices for their children. Republicans are capitalizing on this," Democrats for Education Reform CEO Jorge Elorza said.

According to the press release issued by the DFER on July 28, a recent EdTrends poll of voters found that republicans now lead democrats on trust in education in four key states. The poll surveyed voters in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, and North Carolina and found that democrats have ceded their advantage on education, an issue that has traditionally been a strength of the democrats. According to the DFER press release, democrats previously held a double-digit advantage on trust in education, but now trail republicans by 3 percentage points among all voters in the four states that were polled.

Pandemic learning loss was a major concern for voters in Arizona. According to the poll, 87 percent of both voters and parents agreed that students fell behind in school during the pandemic, while 57 percent reported they felt students were still mostly behind. Republicans lead democrats by two percentage points among voters in Arizona when asked who they trust to do a better job preparing students for success after high school by ensuring they are teaching students to read and do math well.

Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) CEO Jorge Elorza commented on the poll saying, “the crisis in education has mounted into one voters simply cannot ignore. Voters—especially parents—want to see more choices for their children. Republicans are capitalizing on this." Elorza went on to suggest that supporting school choice could be beneficial for democrats to regain favor among voters saying, "embracing public school choice isn’t just the right thing today, but it will help Democrats reconnect with frustrated voters and families who know that more of the same won’t fix our public education system.”

Before coming to DFER, Elorza served two terms as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island where education was a main focus of his administration. According to their website, DFER exists to, "elect and support Democratic leaders who are committed to our vision for a public education system that empowers all of its students—particularly students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and other historically underserved students—to reach their limitless potential."