The ads touch on a wide variety of proposals, from raising academic standards to tightening discipline, from renovating decaying schools to attacking teachers' unions. Whether these themes will translate into real action is another question. Successful congressional candidates may discover that most education policies are determined at the state and local level, not on Capitol Hill. But there is no doubting the issue's potency. Next was crime, followed by Social Security, taxes and health care.
Analysts say the education issue resonates most strongly with women and suburban voters.
In a sense, the sizzling economy has not only taken the punch out of traditional pocketbook issues but cleared the way for promises to improve local schools. With the federal budget in the black for the first time in three decades and state treasuries flush with extra cash, candidates are not shying away from education proposals that will cost money. Political professionals say the issue has long favored Democrats, who tend to support more spending on domestic problems and are often aligned with teachers' unions. But many Republicans are staking out their own positions for improving education, a significant departure from the 1995 drive by congressional Republicans to abolish the Education Department. There's less focus on education as a spending issue and more as a standards issue.