Parents want candidates to focus on education

October 9, 2008

With Wall Street, gas prices and lipstick dominating discourse in the 2008 presidential election, two in three American parents believe too little attention is being devoted to education, a recent study says.

More than seven in 10 parents in the West and more than six in 10 in the Northeast believe education should get more attention in the presidential campaign, says the Back-to-School Benchmark Survey.

GreatSchools, the education nonprofit that sponsored the study, is partnering with public-advocacy group Strong American Schools to launch the "Ed in ‘08" campaign, which aims to find a place on the national stage for issues facing public schools.

"American parents care deeply about providing their children with a world-class education and they want to see the country's leadership give more attention to this high-priority issue," Roy Romer, former governor of Colorado and chair of Strong American Schools, says in a statement.

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