Education in the 2022 Gubernatorial Elections: Political Priorities Among Candidates and Winners

Although most education policy decisions are made at the state level, America has been having a national debate over the future of our schools for the last several years. Arguments have raged over Covid-related closures and the resultant student learning loss, Critical Race Theory, school funding, parental choice, college debt, and more.

The 2022 campaign and election cycle provided an opportunity to better understand whether these national issues and narratives match those at the state level. By studying the educational agendas of gubernatorial candidates, we can also see whether there were differences between incumbents and nonincumbents, Republicans and Democrats, and candidates in red, blue, and swing states.

Perhaps most important, with the election now behind us, we can see what the winners had in common and thereby forecast the next several years of state-level education reform.