With the Department of Justice supposedly investigating alleged threats against local school board members, most voters agree parent protests are “clearly protected by the First Amendment,” according to a new Rasmussen Reports national phone and online survey.
Eighty-eight percent of likely U.S. voters believe it is very important for parents to be involved in their children’s education. Ten percent said parental involvement is somewhat important.
Attorney General Merrick Garland ordered the FBI to investigate parents involved in protests about school policies. Garland said the parents have engaged in “harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members.”
Forty-four percent of voters support the FBI investigation, including 28 percent who strongly support. However, 47 percent are opposed with 39 percent being strongly opposed.
Sixty-eight percent of voters agree with the statement from 11 Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, that “the reported heated encounters between concerned parents and school boards often involve speech that is clearly protected by the First Amendment. Federal law enforcement muscle should never be used against protesting parents.”
Just 23 percent disagree with that statement.
This is yet another issue with Republicans and unaffiliated voters sharing views while Democrats are out of the mainstream. Sixty-four percent of Democrats support the FBI investigation, but only 31 percent of Republicans and 32 percent of unaffiliated voters agree. Fifty-four percent of GOP voters and 49 percent of unaffiliated voters strongly oppose the federal investigation.
