In a warning sign for the national Democratic Party, according to a new poll focused on education, a slight majority of voters trust Republicans more than Democrats in four battleground states.

Yet there is hope if Democrats can harness their strengths, listen to constituents, and resist the siren call of teacher union lobbyists trying to restrict parents’ ability to choose among the best public schools for their children.

According to that new poll by Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), 36% of voters in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina trust the GOP and 33% trust Democrats to get education right. Seventeen percent don’t trust either party on education.

Yet there is an encouraging sign for Democrats: according to the DFER survey there was strong favorability among all voters, including Democrats and Independent voters, for public school choice, including public charter schools (64% and 66%), public magnet schools (62% and 60%), and career academies (70% and 67%). Despite Republican choice programs in these states, voters still prefer the Democratic vision of public-school choice by 35-percentage points (68-32%).

DFER CEO Jorge Elorza said the poll results should “alarm Democrats,” who he said are “losing ground” on education. Pay attention, he warns: “Voters — especially parents — want to see bold investments and more choices for their children,” Elorza said in a news release accompanying the poll’s release. “Republicans are capitalizing on this.” 

Roll Call notes,

“Many progressive Democrats and teachers’ unions have opposed charter schools, saying the publicly-funded and independently-run institutions lack accountability…During the 2020 election cycle, for example, the American Federation of Teachers gave nearly $2.4 million to Democratic congressional candidates and only $1,050 to Republicans in the 2022 cycle, according to opensecrets.org.”

In other DFER results, “nearly six out of 10 parents did not see improvements in their schools, despite historic levels of pandemic relief investments over the past three years. However, voters who reported seeing some improvement in the past year said they trusted Democrats on education over Republicans by a 12-percentage point margin (46% to 34%). These improvements included high-impact tutoring, after school and summer learning programs, and better school facilities.”

Also, voters in those states trust Democrats more than Republicans to protect women’s access to healthcare, to protect the environment, and to reduce gun violence.