Public Education is Popular Report

Public Education is Popular (and Our Opponents Know It)

Framing a Big Us to Defeat Authoritarian Attacks on Our Schools

Fall 2023

Over the past three years a growing authoritarian movement has targeted public schools, opening up new lines of attack on social wedge issues. We conducted a comprehensive study to test how different kinds of messages perform against this authoritarian rhetoric.

Our sample spanned across five battleground states, testing messages on issues like school funding, "Critical Race Theory," book bans, and transgender athletes. We tested four main approaches to anti-authoritarian messaging, drawing on prior research and our observations in the field.

In this report we lay out our findings. In a word, our study shows that public education is popular, and our opponents know it. But our messaging choices matter; they can make the difference in whether or not we compel “persuadable” audiences and thereby win majority support. With strategic messages that claim a majoritarian position, invoke shared values like freedom and responsibility, and articulate a believable vision of abundance and strong public schools, we can beat these new attacks and win well-resourced public schools where all children can thrive.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction

  2. What we’re up against: Authoritarian messaging themes

  3. How to fight back: Testing anti-authoritarian messaging types

  4. Study design

  5. Topline Findings and Takeaways

    • Findings by Message Type

      • Counter-argument

      • Big Us, Small Them

      • Meet Them Where They Are

      • Positive Vision

    • Findings by Issue

      • School Funding

      • Book Bans

      • “CRT”

      • Trans Athletics

  6. Messaging Guidance: Our Recommendations

  7. Conclusions

To read a messaging guide that highlights our key recommendations, please click here.

Appendix

State-level findings, Demographic Breakdowns, and Full Message Text

Fall 2023

The Appendix includes the full text of each of the messages we tested, including progressive and oppositional messages on each issue. It also includes racial demographic data for the whole sample by message type and issue. For each of the five states we sampled in, we provide state level results with top-line results, as well as results comparing message effectiveness separately for likely vs unlikely voters and for rural, suburban, and urban voters.

Appendix Table of Contents

  1. Introduction to Appendix

  2. Full Text of Messages We Tested

  3. Whole Sample: Racial Demographic Cross-Tabs

  4. State-Level Findings By Issue: Likely and Less Likely Voters; and Rural, Urban, and Suburban Voters

    • Florida

    • North Carolina

    • Virginia

    • Pennsylvania

    • Washington

What people are saying

  • A powerful, thought-provoking and, in some ways, unsettling study that challenges many of the accepted approaches to fighting authoritarian messaging. This study offers tremendous insight into how to confront authoritarian politics and messaging. What an amazing instrument in the fight to save and expand democracy!

    Bill Fletcher, Jr., long-time racial-justice, labor, and international activist, scholar, and author

  • This essential guide lays out why our public schools are under such ferocious attack right now, and reminds us that those who seek to dismantle public education represent an extreme minority. Most importantly, it offers effective messaging for defending public schools and pushing back against the forces that seek to divide us. As extremist groups stoke new controversies around race and gender, Popular Comms has provided us with the necessary tools to fight back, making the case for fully-funded schools that serve all kids. Listen to them.

    Jennifer Berkshire, co-author of The Education Wars: A Citizen's Guide and Defense Manual (out in June 2024) and the co-host of the education podcast Have You Heard.

  • The report presents essential, research-backed strategies aimed at building a diverse majority committed to safeguarding and enhancing public education. Through a thorough understanding and application of these strategies, we can proactively defend our schools against extremist elements and champion a democratic, inclusive vision for the future of public education.

    Julian Vasquez Heilig, Professor of Educational Leadership, Research and Technology and Network for Public Education Founding Board Member

  • Although our first instincts often tell us to fight back by correcting misinformation, this important study highlights the idea that we need to fight for public education by calling out the divide and conquer tactics for what they really are - attempts to discredit and destroy public education as we know it. The bottom line - inoculate, don't debunk

    Donald Cohen, Executive Director, In the Public Interest