• Polling

Americans are Prioritizing Safety and Quality Education While Rejecting Book Bans and Restricted Curriculums

Thursday, March 9, 2023 By Bryan Bennett
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Welcome to NAVIGATOR – a project designed to better understand the American public’s views on issues of the day and help advocates, elected officials, and other interested parties understand the language, imagery, and messaging needed to make and win key policy arguments.
Key takeaways
  • Americans trust Biden and Democrats more than Republicans on looking out for children and caring for children’s well-being.
  • Top priorities for kids are safety from gun violence and learning what’s needed for success. Top school concerns are education quality, mental health, funding, and teacher pay.
  • Democratic priorities on childcare and education, like affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, and universal preschool are much more popular than Republican priorities, like banning critical race theory and restricting the rights of transgender students.

Americans Trust Biden and Democrats More Than Republicans to Look Out for Children and Care for Their Well-Being

Independents trust Biden and Democrats more to “[look] out for children” (net +13 Biden and Democrats) but are more divided on which party they trust more to “[care] for children’s well-being” (net +3 Republicans).

Americans’ Top Priorities Around Children Are Preventing Gun Violence and Ensuring Educational Quality

Keeping children “safe from gun violence” is the top priority for Democrats (64%), independents (57%), and parents (51%).

  • Republicans stand alone in their prioritization of “preventing [children] from being exposed to woke ideas” (54%) over protecting them from gun violence (40%).

Quality, Student Mental Health, Funding, and Teacher Pay Are Most Important Educational Concerns

“Children not learning the material they need to know to be successful” is the top concern across party lines and among parents.

  • “Parents not having a say in what their kids are learning” is a much higher concern for Republicans (56%) than for independents (25%) or Democrats (12%).

Biden and Democrats’ Priorities on Childcare and Education Are Far More Popular Than Republican Priorities

Majorities of independents, Republicans, and parents support a range of Democratic proposals related to education and childcare.

  • Nearly seven in ten Americans (68%) oppose “banning high school classes like AP African-American history.”

About The Study

Global Strategy Group conducted public opinion surveys among a sample of 1,000 registered voters from February 23-February 27, 2023. 100 additional interviews were conducted among Hispanic voters. 76 additional interviews were conducted among Asian American and Pacific Islander voters. 99 additional interviews were conducted among African American voters. 100 additional interviews were conducted among independent voters.

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About Navigator

In a world where the news cycle is the length of a tweet, our leaders often lack the real-time public-sentiment analysis to shape the best approaches to talking about the issues that matter the most. Navigator is designed to act as a consistent, flexible, responsive tool to inform policy debates by conducting research and reliable guidance to inform allies, elected leaders, and the press. Navigator is a project led by pollsters from Global Strategy Group and GBAO along with an advisory committee, including: Andrea Purse, progressive strategist; Arkadi Gerney, The Hub Project; Joel Payne, The Hub Project; Christina Reynolds, EMILY’s List; Delvone Michael, Working Families; Felicia Wong, Roosevelt Institute; Mike Podhorzer, AFL-CIO; Jesse Ferguson, progressive strategist; Navin Nayak, Center for American Progress Action Fund; Stephanie Valencia, EquisLabs; and Melanie Newman, Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

For press inquiries contact: press@navigatorresearch.org