Education is top of mind for many American voters. The pandemic brought schooling into the homes of many parents and revealed just how flawed much of our current education model is. As evidenced in the recent San Francisco recall, this has resulted in a broad decline in trust in local school boards. This decline coincides with a broad decline in trust in government in general. 

A chance for people to get involved locally

Fortunately, the overall lag in public trust has inspired a renewed interest in participation at a local level. People generally believe that local solutions produce the best results. What the San Francisco recall demonstrated was the people’s eagerness to engage at the local level, where parents and advocates believe they have the best chance to make a positive difference. Parents, even in one of the most progressive counties in the country, were demanding that their elected officials focus on things like re-opening schools rather than re-naming them.

Parents and voters want transparency in education

This appetite for a more active local government provides an opportunity for this Network to advance meaningful solutions. The SPN State Voices survey, a monthly a public opinion study dedicated to understanding and sharing American’s attitudes about government and policy solutions, shows that people are open to substantive reform when it comes to education.

In the first wave of polling, 70% of respondents believe that parents ought to have more input on what is taught in public schools. A further 88% believed that there should be more transparency in how public schools spend taxpayer funds. Not only do voters want to see action from their elected officials and local school boards; voters want to be able to monitor that action, too. They also believe that parents should be more involved in public schooling, which opens the door for greater local engagement overall.

Why transparency in education matters

Transparency policies can cover topics like curriculum or spending and can also serve to restore oversight of education to elected bodies rather than unelected agencies. Education transparency legislation might seem like a simple thing, but it comes with numerous benefits.

1. First and foremost, it makes it easier for people to get involved at a local level, because it’s easier to know what they’re getting themselves involved with. Given the support for parental involvement in schools, transparency will be key to their ability to engage.
   
2. Second, transparency about things curriculum and spending provides more specific topics for parents and communities to collaborate on. This helps involve the “village” more in raising the child.
   
3. Third, transparency helps restore the trust in government that has been diminished over the years as the unelected rule-making administrative state has taken on a larger role in policymaking. As we expand transparency about their behaviors, and in turn restore oversight by elected bodies, we can begin to reclaim the sense of self-governance that is crucial for a democratic nation to flourish.

How this Network can lead

Fortunately, the Network has already been working to advance various education transparency policies, which correspond with the types of solutions voters want to see. Given that this will be an election year, there will be several voices vying for policymaker attention. Many incumbents and aspiring candidates will be looking for popular solutions. This Network and its members can rise above the noise by offering tangible solutions for advancing the popular cause of education transparency.