There were many reasons to celebrate this Election Day, not the least of them a resounding victory for education as a core value and voting issue.  Education Voters of America, and our partner organizations in Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania can celebrate significant victories for the future of public education – read on for more.

The Presidential Contest

National polling by the PEW Research Center showed that education ranked among the top concerns of voters in their choice of the next president.

• By mid-October, Obama led McCain by 29 points as the candidate who would do the most to improve education.  This compares to a virtual tie on education between Bush/Kerry in 2004 and Bush/Gore in 2000.  Voters gave Obama his highest rankings on improving education, health care, and the environment, which bested their comparative rankings between the candidates on all other issues including taxes, foreign policy, and Iraq.

• Not surprisingly, 91 percent of voters said that the economy was very important in their voting decision, followed by jobs (80%), energy (78%), health care (77%), and education (73%). These top four bread-and-butter concerns outweighed taxes, Iraq, terrorism, social issues, immigration, trade policy, and the environment as priorities for voters.

Americans consider public education a core value and the engine of economic opportunity.  Voters consider access to good schools and an affordable college education as part and parcel of realizing the American Dream.  Improving education is a winning message and electoral strategy for candidates up and down the ballot.

Ohio

Education Voters of Ohio issued recommendations for several candidates, capturing four victories that gave the Ohio House of Representatives a pro-education majority. Races targeted for voter education efforts in House districts 18, 24, 91, and 92 allowed Education Voters of Ohio to reach out to new constituencies, make the topic of education more visible, and get candidates on the record so we know where we stand when they take office.

Pennsylvania

Two of the four candidates endorsed by Education Voters of Pennsylvania for the state House of Representatives won their races, including Rep. Nick Miccozzie (R) of Delaware County who has committed to stepping up his support for education, and Paul Drucker (D-157^th) who over the course of a very competitive campaign grew to be a spirited campaigner on the subject of education.  Education Voters of Pennsylvania also picked up a win in the Senate with the victory of endorsed candidate Daylin Leach (D-17^th).

Massachusetts

Education Voters of Massachusetts played a key role in the resounding defeat of Ballot Question 1 which would have drastically reduced, then eliminated the state income tax.  This would have had disastrous consequences for education funding in the state.  An aggressive effort from a coalition of groups working primarily in communities of color, including advertisements, flyers, and other voter education materials from Education Voters of Massachusetts, led to a resounding defeat of Ballot Question 1, with 69% of voters saying “No!”

New York
The big story out of New York is in the state Senate. After 40 years of largely anti-education Republican control Democrats have taken the majority with 32 seats to the Republicans’ 29.  Education Voters of New York and NY EdPAC supported a number of candidates this cycle, two of whom were victorious.  Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) had a decisive win over his opponent in his campaign to represent New York’s 15^th district in the state Senate. Likewise Brian Foley (D-Long Island) won the Senate seat for the 3^rd district.  With these candidates joining what is likely to be a much more progressive Senate the possibilities for us are great here.

The particular focus of the article is Question 1 on the ballot in Massachusetts, which would eliminate the state income tax and, consequently, funding for many government programs.  Groups are mobilizing to talk with those people who would be most affected by the policy.  They discuss the challenges of doing voter education in these communities. From the article:

The notion behind a targeted appeal to voters of color is rooted in the idea that their numbers figure to surge in November, as people flock to the polls to support Barack Obama. But the first challenge is making sure those voters know the question is even on the ballot, and making sure they don’t stop, as many voters do, before they get to the ballot questions.

One finding from talking to voters, which isn’t necessarily a shock, is that the views of elected officials do little to sway voters when it comes to taxes.

"I think right now people are really mad and highly skeptical that anyone in power is going to tell them the truth," said Beth Sullivan of Education Voters of America, which has been heavily involved in outreach to the minority community. "Voters don’t trust who’s in charge."