About 8 in 10 Americans the Center Square surveyed feel that institutions closer to home should be in charge of education systems.
Of those, 23% say parents should be the main decision makers, 27% think the state should make those decisions, and the rest think local school districts should determine things like testing standards, classroom curriculum, and school choice.
The Voters' Voice Poll, conducted by Noble Predictive Insights, surveyed 2,565 registered voters between Oct. 2-6. It included 978 Republicans, 948 Democrats, and 639 independents.
The lack of popular support for federal control over educational policy appears to align with President Donald Trump's efforts to reduce operations within the U.S. Department of Education.
Alfonso Aguilar, senior director for government affairs at Defending Education, thinks this is "fantastic news."
"American citizens understand that under our Constitution, education is a state responsibility; it is a state power," he submits. "It's always been like that. President Trump is making it even more clear by dismantling the Department of Education and transferring specific functions to other federal agencies."
Trump cannot and has not fully dismantled the Education Department. Congress created it in 1979, and only Congress can abolish it entirely. The president has, however, taken major steps toward weakening it.
In March, he signed an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure" of the department and return authority to the states and local communities.
The agency has undergone major layoffs, reducing staff from around 4,100 to roughly 2,100 employees. Key programs and functions like student loans, Pell Grants, and civil rights enforcement will likely remain, and the department is still functioning – just with fewer staff and a changed mission.
Aguilar says this survey shows the American people agree that government is better when it is local, especially in terms of education.
"It should be encouraging for the administration in their efforts to dismantle the department," he says. "They have already begun doing so administratively. They laid off over 50% of the staff of the Department of Education; they are beginning to transfer specific functions to different agencies."
He points out that the federal government does very little in terms of education anyway. It provides an average of 10%-13% of the funding for schools, which are run by the state and local government.
Meanwhile, the government shutdown has not had an impact on education. Kids are still going to school, teachers are being paid, and schools are open.
