Evidence of Inconsis tencies in Public Support for Educational Neutrality - Talk by Eric T orres
In this talk I present the results of a study of Ame ricans’ attitudes about political socialization in public schools. Using data from a nationally representative survey conducted in March of 2025, I find that Americans across the political spectrum largely oppose schools attempting to steer students towards either liberal o r conservative viewpoints, even if they align with respondents' own. However, a survey experiment reveals Americans are significantly more likely to rate as acceptable teachers’ political disclosures to st udents when those disclosures are aligned with respondents' own ideol ogical leanings, suggesting that partisans may inconsistently apply t heir preferences for educational neutrality in forming judgements abo ut individual cases in the classroom. These asymmetries in stak eholder oversight suggest a mechanism by which educational polarizati on between predominantly liberal and conservative educational se ttings might be exacerbated. I conclude by discussing implicatio ns for public trust in education and avenues for future research.
DESCRIPTION: Evidence of Inconsistencies in Public Support for Educati onal Neutrality - Talk by Eric Torres In this talk I present the resu lts of a study of Americans’ attitudes about political socializatio n in public schools. Using data from a nationally representative surv ey conducted in March of 2025, I find that Americans across the polit ical spectrum largely oppose schools attempting to steer students tow ards either liberal or conservative viewpoints, even if they align wi th respondents' own. However, a survey experiment reveals Americans a re significantly more likely to rate as acceptable teachers’ politi cal disclosures to students when those disclosures are aligned with r espondents' own ideological leanings, suggesting that partisans may i nconsistently apply their preferences for educational neutrality in f orming judgements about individual cases in the classroom. Thes e asymmetries in stakeholder oversight suggest a mechanism by which e ducational polarization between predominantly liberal and conser vative educational settings might be exacerbated. I conclude by discussing implications for public trust in education and avenues for future research. END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR