Texas Voters Believe Teaching K-12 Students About The U.S. Constitution Is Very Important & Overwhelmingly Support Increasing K-12 Civics Education Funding In Texas

A new report, Texas Voters and the U.S. Constitution, by Texas Southern University’s Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center, provides timely information on the opinions of Texas voters on the importance of teaching about the U.S. Constitution in Texas’s public schools and on the support among these voters for increasing spending on civics education in Texas schools during the upcoming 2027 regular session of the Texas Legislature. The report is based on a survey of 1,200 Texas likely voters (margin of error of +/- 2.83%) conducted between July 27 and July 30, 2026.

The report reveals that 94% of Texas likely voters believe it is very important to teach Texas K-12 students about the U.S. Constitution, with the small remainder believing it is either somewhat important (5%) or not too important (1%), and none (0%) of the opinion that it is not at all important.

Dr. Michael O. Adams, Founding Director of the Barbara Jordan Public Policy Research and Survey Center at Texas Southern University, noted that, “given the importance Texans place on teaching K through 12 students about the U.S. Constitution, it is not surprising that close to nine out of ten Texas voters believe the State of Texas should increase funding for civics education in our schools when the Texas Legislature reconvenes in January.”  Dr. Adams was referring to the report’s finding that 86% of Texas likely voters believe that Texas should spend more money on civics education in its K-12 schools, while only 3% believe it should spend less, with 11% of the opinion that the State of Texas is currently spending the right amount on civics education in its K-12 schools.

The report also found that slightly more than one-half of Texas likely voters (51%) believes the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning (i.e., an originalist position), compared to 11% who believe the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted in light of modern circumstances (i.e., a living constitution position). The remaining 38% of Texas likely voters believe that both of these approaches, originalist and living constitution, are equally important when interpreting the U.S. Constitution.

The report uncovers sharp partisan differences among Texas likely voters regarding how best to interpret the U.S. Constitution. More than three out of four (76%) Republican likely voters believe the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted according to its original meaning, compared to only 21% of Democratic likely voters. Similarly, while more than one-fifth (21%) of Democrats believe the U.S. Constitution should be interpreted in light of modern circumstances, the same is true for only 1% of Republicans.  And, finally, while a majority of Texas Democrats (56%) prefer an approach to interpreting the U.S. Constitution that gives the originalist and living constitution approaches equal importance, this same position is shared by less than a quarter (23%) of Texas Republicans.

A link to the report can be found here.