A poll done for Washington Learns, Gov. Chris Gregoire's education commission, has a bit of sobering news for newspaper editorial boards. Voters were asked "who they would trust to speak out on education issues, using a scale of great deal, fair amount, not much, or no trust at all."

Here's what pollsters Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall, Inc., found:

From a poll done October 4th -- 8th, of 600 registered voters

The poll memo says:

In terms of messengers, there are quite a number who can effectively deliver the best messages. However, in our view, using professionals who are involved in the system, parents, and the PTA would be the most effective. Frankly, we would avoid using politicians to drive these messages, we do not think that they will carry the same weight as those who are active in the educational system. One other point, while the ratings for teachers unions, both local and statewide, are credible, they do not do nearly as well as the generic use of teachers.

UPDATE: USA Today founder Al Neuharth once said newspapers should get out of the political endorsement business. He's modified that stance a bit.