Two years ago, a national opinion poll rated education as the most important issue. In 2008, Americans still care about education, but a new poll of voters from the Public Education Network shows that they rate it third, behind gas prices and jobs and the economy. Health care was a close fourth.

Key statistics from Civic Index for Quality Public Education include:

• 60% say that candidates for office are focusing too little on education in election campaigns this year.
• 48% say a candidates position on education is "one of the most important" issues or "very important" in helping them decide which candidate they will choose for President. 
• 63% believe that elected officials are not held accountable on education.
• 40%  said that the quality of the schools nationally has declined compared to 15 percent who said that schools were getting better.
• 32% said that the quality of schools in their local community has declined compared with about 26%  who believe schools are getting better.
• Parents with school-age children were significantly more likely to say that their local public schools had improved (33%) than non-parents (23%).
• 31% say NCLB  has helped the performance of local public schools; 31% say it has hurt; 38% say that it has made no difference or that they just don't know.
• African-Americans and Latinos are by far the most positive about the law. By about a 2-1 margin, they believe the law has helped rather than hurt.
• 59% said they personally did something to support their local public schools: 17% said they were "very involved" and 33% said they were "somewhat involved."
• 68%said that people in their community take "a lot" or "some responsibility" for ensuring there are quality public schools.

Additionally, the report identifies key findings across the 10 categories of community responsibility for schools.

Tolerance & Inclusiveness: 

• 80% gave public schools a rating of 4 or 5 on a five-point scale for providing educational opportunities for boys and girls (80 percent).
• 70% gave high ratings to schools for providing educational opportunities for children of all racial or ethnic backgrounds and 67% for children of all economic backgrounds.

Officeholder Leadership: 

• 25% gave ratings of 4 or 5 to elected officials in their communities for consistently communicating with constituents regarding public education issues.
• 39% of the public gave high ratings to local officials for demonstrating their commitment to public education by voting for or seeking adequate financial support for public schools.

Parent Involvement: 

• 48% said that schools encourage parents to participate and take an active role
• 39% said that parents are highly informed about key issues.

Media Coverage:  

The public gave some of its lowest ratings to the local print and broadcast media for not reporting on voting records and not reporting the extent to which elected officials keep their campaign promises.

Youth Development and Involvement: 

Americans say that communities are not giving young people a voice in decisionmaking or the skills they need to take on leadership roles that will be beneficial now and in the future.

Business Involvement: 

• 68% say that local businesses are involved in education.
• 38% thinkbusiness leaders are doing too little to support public schools. The public says that businesses do not offer much support for schools by giving time off and compensation to their employees when they need to attend school events.
• The public was somewhat more positive about businesses' help in advocating for public schools by offering resources such as internships, financial support, and other assistance that helps student achievement.

School Board Elections:

While traditionally few people vote in school board elections, particularly in large cities, the public said that members of their community not only voted in presidential elections but also vote for local education leaders.

Community Organizations:  

Studies have shown that participation in civic and community groups has been declining for some time. Many Americans would like to see community organizations more involved in improving the quality of public schools but are unsure of what roles civic organizations play or could play in communities.

Use of Data: 

• 46% gave ratings of 4 or 5 to indicate that there is easily available data on test scores and graduation rates of local high schools.
• 30% gave ratings of 4 or 5 when asked if voters in the community heavily weigh the issue of public education when they decide which candidates to support for public office.

Higher Education:

43% of the public say that colleges and universities are doing enough to help improve public schools compared to about 35 percent who believe they are not doing enough.

Public Education Network is a national association of local education funds and individuals working to advance public school reform in low-income communities across the  country. MetLife Foundation funded the survey.

The report and additional resources

Source: Public Education Network Press Release, Rising Gas Prices, Economic Woes Displace Education as Public's Top Concern