The Colorado Education Association pushed back at Ready Colorado’s presumptions and maintained it never advocated for school closures.

“We know that in-person learning is best for our students,” Amie Baca-Oehlert, a high school counselor and president of the Colorado Education Association, told Colorado Politics in a statement. “We have always and will always advocate for safe, science-based decision-making when it comes to COVID-19 safety because that is what will help ensure safe, uninterrupted in-person learning.”

Baca-Oehlert also said the Ready Colorado poll stands in stark contrast to a survey her union commissioned in September that showed the public views teachers favorably and trusts them highly. It specifically asked about teachers’ handling of the pandemic and whether respondents trust their judgment more than elected school and state officials when it comes to keeping students safe. The poll, which Harstad Strategic Research conducted from Aug. 12 to 18, surveyed 602 respondents and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.      

“Finally, our polling also showed that 89% of Coloradans were more likely to vote for a school board candidate who supports students learning the complete and honest history of our country – the good and bad,” Baca-Oehlert said. “Additionally, 68% of those polled felt that students should learn the facts about slavery in America and the ongoing effects of racial discrimination in our society.”     

Top of mind for Coloradans is ending the COVID-19 pandemic and “returning to normal,” according to the Ready Colorado poll. Other priorities include cutting government spending and taxes, strengthening the economy and creating jobs, protecting the environment and open space, and improving the healthcare system.

The Ready Colorado poll finds 76% of respondents believing parents should have at least some say in what school teaches children.

Tyler Sandberg, vice president of Ready Colorado, said Republicans and unaffiliated voters align when it comes to the education issues raised in the poll, notably parents’ say in how their children are educated. 

Sandberg called it an “interesting data point” for the 2022 elections. 

“The unaffiliated look like they’re identical to Republicans,” he said. “It’s a very distinct break from the last 10 years of polling.”

Sandberg said he suspects that school closures have “really radicalized parents” and they blame the teachers’ unions, and, by extension, the Democrats. 

The Ready Colorado poll also says:

• The country is headed in the wrong direction 
• Coloradans are evenly split on whether the state is headed in the wrong direction 
• The legislature’s image is under water at -3% 
• A plurality say students are underfunded, while 61% believe teachers are underpaid
• The majority views charter schools favorably 

The statewide poll of 630 “likely” general election voters – which the pollster defined as having voted in at least one of the last four general elections – was conducted via a mixture of live caller, text and email on Jan. 12 and 13. The respondents also include newly-registered voters. The pollster said respondents were screened for self-reporting their likelihood to vote, and the sample was weighted to reflect demographics in the last midterm elections and then adjusted for “shifts in the political environment.”

Of the poll’s sample, 25.3% were Republicans, 34.6% were Democrats and 36.8 were unaffiliated.

Cygnal was among the most accurate pollsters during the 2017-2019 cycle, according to fivethirtyeight.com. The site currently gives Cygnal’s polling a B+ grade.