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Key Points

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Introduction

Whatever else he may be, President Donald Trump has proved to be a remarkably polarizing figure. Thus far, he has shown little inclination or ability to sway centrists. In particular, the support for his domestic agenda, ranging from health care to his proposed budget, has mostly amounted to a subset of the Republican coalition.

Therefore, assessing baseline trust in Republican and Democratic leadership is useful when contemplating the prospects for Trump proposals. This is certainly true when it comes to education, as Trump has boldly declared his support for federal school choice legislation and named Betsy DeVos, an impassioned school choice advocate, to serve as US secretary of education.

During the nomination process, DeVos was harshly critiqued by Democrats, teacher union leaders, journalists, and even late-night comics. DeVos ultimately edged into office on a 50-50 vote, when Vice President Mike Pence tipped the tie in her favor, but this was just an early look at how heated the debate became around Trumps education efforts.

Trumps proposed skinny budget, which called for cutting $9.2 billion in federal education spending, encountered fierce criticism. The New York Times editorial board stated the budget would impose pain for pains sake,1 and Senator Bernie Sanders decried it as morally repugnant.2 The debate is hardly surprising given that Trump has already sketched out some controversial changes to federal education policy. These include plans to promote school choice, sharply reduce federal education spending, alter Washingtons approach to regulating for-profit colleges, and revamp Obama-era directives on civil rights enforcement.

All of this raises timely questions: How does the public feel about Republicans and Democrats when it comes to education? Which party has the upper hand in the publics mind, and how has that evolved over the past two decades?

As Republicans pursue Trumps exceptionally sharp-edged education agenda, just how deep a reservoir of public support are they drawing on? Especially given the backlash against many Obama-era education initiatives (most famously, the Common Core) and steady support for school choice, is public sentiment on education perhaps more favorable to Republicans than it may have once been?

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Notes

Excerpt from:
Republicans, Democrats, and Schooling: What the Public Thinks - American Enterprise Institute