Should parents be able to challenge lessons on race, sexuality? Here’s what Missourians think
As Missouri lawmakers clash over legislation that targets lessons on race and sexuality in schools, new polling suggests that a majority of Missourians think parents should have a right to object to their child’s curriculum.
While voters were relatively split on whether to limit or expand curriculum related to race, Missourians appeared to be more in favor of limiting lessons on sexual orientation, the poll found.
The poll released Thursday by Saint Louis University and British pollster YouGov found that 62% of those surveyed agreed that parents should be able to object to their child’s classroom instructional materials, while 26% disagreed. The remaining 12% said they weren’t sure.
While the full poll surveyed 900 likely Missouri voters, the curriculum question had a sample size of 443 people. It was conducted between Feb. 8 and 14 and has a margin of error of 5.50%. The full poll, which had a margin of error of 3.72%, asked voters to weigh in on a host of other issues.
The poll also found that while a plurality of 36% of white voters rated race relations as good, a plurality of 37% of Black voters rated race relations as poor. A plurality of 35% of all non-white voters also rated race relations as poor.
“The African American community or the more affected community tends to view race relations not to be as good as maybe the more majority community,” said Steve Rogers, an associate professor of political science at Saint Louis University who directed the poll.
Rogers cautioned that the race relations question surveyed only 81 Black voters compared to 767 white voters.
In additional questions, the poll suggested that Missourians are split on whether school curriculum should be expanded or limited related to lessons on race.
It found that 43% of Missourians were against expanding public school curriculum related to racial and ethnic groups, while 41% were in favor of it. It also showed that 43% were against limiting curriculum related to race and 35% supported it.
Missourians appeared to be more opposed to school lessons on sexual orientation.
A majority of 55% said they were against expanding public school curriculum related to sexual orientation, while 29% said they were in favor of it. The poll showed that 49% supported limiting school curriculum on sexual orientation compared to 41% opposed.
Activists and Democrats have said the Republican-led bills targeting lessons on race and sexual orientation would put new burdens on teachers and seek only to exploit anger over hot-button issues.
The debate over school curriculum is often mentioned alongside critical race theory a college-level concept that examines the role of institutions in perpetuating racism. The academic theory is not widely taught in Missouri’s K-12 schools, but the phrase has become a shorthand among hard-right conservatives for any lesson that delves into systemic racism’s role in U.S. history or politics.
“All children deserve an honest and accurate education where they can learn from our past, not dictated by partisan politics and political agendas,” Robert Fischer, a spokesperson for PROMO Missouri, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said in a statement Wednesday regarding a Republican bill that would ban lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Curriculum should be set by educators whose job it is to educate all students so they can learn to think critically and thrive in a safe place.”
