by Eric Lendrum
According to a new poll, Americans are divided along party lines on the question of whether or not to actively teach about race and sexuality in public schools.
The Associated Press reports that the poll by the University of Chicago, AP, and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research asked two questions of respondents: Do parents have too little, too much, or about the right amount of influence over what their children learn, and do teachers have too little, too much, or about the right amount of influence in the same area?
On the question of parents, 50 percent of respondents think they have too little input, while 27 percent said they currently have the right amount, and another 20 percent said they have too much. When it comes to teachers, a narrow majority of 51 percent say teachers have too little say, while 34 percent say they have the right amount and 13 percent say they have too much.
When broken down along partisan lines, a plurality of 38 percent of Democrats think parents have too little input, compared to 33 percent who say it’s just right, and 27 percent who say they have too much influence. By contrast, 65 percent of Republicans say parents don’t have enough influence, while another 22 say they have the right amount, and only 11 percent say they have too much.
On the question of teachers, 62 percent of Democrats say teachers have too little influence, compared to 40 percent of Republicans who say the same; 31 percent of Democrats think teachers currently have the right amount of influence, with 37 percent of Republicans agreeing. Only 4 percent of Democrats say teachers have too much input, while 20 percent of Republicans say the same.
The partisan divides revealed by the poll only further reflect the ongoing polarization in the country on the issue of education, which has quickly become a dominant cultural issue in the United States. Questions have arisen in recent years over the widespread teaching of far-left concepts, from critical race theory to transgenderism, in public schools.
Parents, upon discovering such lessons being taught to young children, began a nationwide grassroots movement to protest at school board meetings and run their own candidates for such positions. This battle over education came to a head in the Virginia elections last year, where Republican candidates swept all three statewide offices and flipped the state’s House of Delegates.
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
