1.   Although mostly a local issue over which the federal government holds little sway, education consistently ranks as a top national concern among voters.

2.   Education ranks high as a campaign issue.

3.   Figure lame education ranks in the top three on the causing-criminals scale, beside garbage parents and poverty.

4.   In poll after poll, education ranks as the highest priority of American voters.

5.   Education consistently ranks at the top of voter concerns, particularly among women, whose votes could be decisive in the fall.

6.   Education consistently ranks high in importance with the public in polling, and the debate is unfolding in a changing political atmosphere.

7.   Polls consistently show that education ranks at the top of the list of issues that voters care about.

8.   This is a problem because studies have shown that the education of girls ranked the highest social rate of return to society.