Public Concern about Education in 2016: What the Numbers Say

Overview & Synopsis

Going back a quarter century to 1992, our last three presidents all made education an integral issue of their campaigns. However, education has been largely absent during the 2016 presidential contest. Why is education not drawing much attention? For most people, education is not as urgent as national security and the economy. Much of education's prominence in previous elections is actually candidate driven rather than in response to public outcry. This article discusses how the topic of education in 2016 compares to recent elections according to Gallup polls. The results of the polls show that inattention to education in the presidential election is pretty normal. Education is likely to receive much more attention when the political world shifts from campaigning and back to governing.