Majorities of Americans Approve of Citizens and Elected Officials Speaking Their Minds on Politics, 而不是公立学校的老师

大多数美国人支持自己的同胞, 国会议员, 以及职业运动员对政治的看法, but not public school teachers in the classroom – according to the newest edition of the bet36体育投注足彩网学院全国民意调查. 该调查结果由Selzer公司于2023年3月14日至19日进行 & 公司，于2023年3月22日星期三发布.

The national poll asked if the respondents thought it appropriate or inappropriate for members of seven specific groups to speak their minds regarding political issues. All but one group received a thumbs up that it is appropriate to speak about politics within their associated setting. 唯一的例外是公立学校的老师. A majority (57%) say it is inappropriate for this group to speak about politics within their classrooms. Among parents of children in public schools, 41% say it is appropriate, while 58% say it is not.

Those opposing the teachers’ ability to speak about politics within the classroom include greater than average proportions of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (68%), 郊区女性(65%), 收入10万美元或以上的人(63%)和天主教徒(64%).

“Views of what is happening in public schools is the one place where suburban women align with Republicans,” J. 安selz民意调查公司Selzer的总裁 & 公司. “The reason we hear so many messages about what is happening in public schools may be the Republican wish to re-take the suburbs in key swing states (for example, 密歇根, 威斯康星州和宾夕法尼亚州). That shift from voting for Donald Trump in 2016 to Joe Biden in 2020 hinged on a shift among suburban voters, 尤其是郊区女性.”

The Public School’s Role in Political Issues – From Book Bans to Student Gender Identity

Debates have intensified across the country about what kinds of books and materials are appropriate to include in public school libraries – and over who should make those decisions. Majorities see a big role in deciding about library materials for school 图书馆员 (57%), 学生(55%), 学生家庭(53%), but the main takeaway is that a majority of Americans do not want elected officials at the state level to play a big part in these decisions.

“We find that Americans want decisions about materials in school libraries to be made locally by school 图书馆员, 家庭, 学校董事会, 还有学生自己,” 彼得汉森他是 bet36体育投注足彩网学院全国民意调查 也是政治学副教授. “There is very little appetite among our respondents for state officials playing a big part in decisions about school libraries.”

The poll explored what kind of material should or should not be part of a public middle school library. 在调查的六个主题中, 所有这些都得到了多数人的支持, but the smallest majorities are reflected in materials about sexual orientation (56%) and gender identity (57%). 在美国社会中，84%的人支持圣经，76%的人支持种族主义.

“Even as public schools across the country are seeing demands to remove books from their libraries and classrooms, we find that the majority of Americans believe that school libraries should include a diverse array of educational materials,汉森说。. “我们向受访者询问了从性别认同到圣经的方方面面. 在每种情况下，大多数人都支持将这些材料纳入学校图书馆. This is a strong signal that Americans believe a sound education requires students to have access to a rich array of books and resources on topics that are interesting and important to them.”

凯拉里德, 发现, bet36体育投注足彩网学院系统和数字战略图书管理员, 说, “The importance of representation in school library materials aligns with the need to broaden content beyond one’s own community to help better understand marginalized students and provide higher levels of empathy.”

对公共图书馆内容决定的担忧

大约是2比1, Americans say they are more worried that materials valuable to students will be removed from school libraries (62%) than worried materials harmful to students will remain available in school libraries (30%). 共和党人在这个问题上的分歧是44-44%, and all other groups tilt solidly toward expressing concern about materials being removed.

“这一直是图书馆员的立场,凯拉·里德补充道, 他的研究重点是LGBTQ教育信息. “我们根据对学生的重要性来选择材料. And we worry that content will be removed that is valuable to a student’s well-being. Librarians want to be a resource for all types of information that a student may seek without repercussion.”

关于性别认同改变的家长通知

Several states are considering legislation requiring schools to inform parents when a student has adopted a gender identity different from the one assigned to them at birth. The poll’s data reveal that 43% of respondents say it is “very important” for schools to inform parents about an observed change in a student’s gender identity, 23%的人认为“有点重要”，31%的人认为“不重要”.” There are significant differences in views by party identification: 71% of Republicans say it is “very important” for schools to inform parents, 相比之下，37%的独立人士和25%的民主党人这样认为. 

大多数美国人反对禁止为18岁以下儿童提供性别确认护理

With many states in the process of or recently enacting legislation to ban gender-affirming care for transgender individuals under the age of 18, respondents were asked if they favored or opposed legislation that would ban transgender children from receiving such care with the approval of their parents or guardians and their doctors. 大多数人(53%)反对这类立法，表明他们反对禁令. 最有可能反对的是民主党人(78%).

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