Poll: About half of Americans oppose schools teaching critical race theory

A recent poll conducted by Convention of States Action (COSA) and the Trafalgar Group shows that parents in the U.S. believe that parents should take action if critical race theory is being taught in their child's school. 

Critical race theory has been a topic of debate in recent months in the U.S. as the "culture war" reaches new heights between Republicans and Democrats. It teaches that almost every issue or topic can be looked at through a lens of race, and that people of color have been oppressed basically every step of the way in the U.S. 

This survey was conducted by the Trafalgar Group, in Partnership with Convention of States Action, and surveyed 1,091 likely general election voters. The poll finds that about half of Americans believe that parents who oppose critical race theory in their children's schools should take action against it, with 51.8% backing action. Though they are split on what sort of action to take, 27.7% support removing children from the school and 24.1% say that parents should run/support candidates for school board and work to take control of the school's governing body.

The results were clearly split by party, with Republicans being the most likely to support action against CRT. About 71.3% of GOP-aligned respondents support action, compared to only 38.5% of Democrats. Around 43.7% of Independents or third party respondents backed action.

Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States Action, said, "Poll after poll shows that parents are exceptionally angry at schools teaching state-sponsored racism disguised as ‘critical race theory,' so we wanted to discover what parents believe should be done. A majority feel so strongly about this issue, they either advocate taking over the local school board and reversing this trend, or pulling their kids out of school altogether in favor of private, religious or homeschool. Republicans are even more intense about taking action, and clearly are not going to sit on the sidelines this fall.”

Convention of States Action is a grassroots political organization with over 5 million supporters across the United States. The organization's primary focus is on calling an Article V Convention of the States to propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution. COSA only promotes amendments which would impose limitations on the size and scope of the federal government.

The Trafalgar Group is a public polling and market research firm. Its website states that Real Clear Politics called it the "most accurate pollster of the cycle among those firms that polled multiple Senate and governor races” this year.

Critical race theory has been a hot button issue in Texas after the Legislature passed a ban on the ideology in K-12 schools during the regular legislative session. Gov. Greg Abbott added the topic on his call for a Special Session, and while the Senate has taken action, the House remains handcuffed by the Democrats quorum busting.