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With about five months to go before the presidential election, a recent poll finds that education has slipped among the political concerns of Americans. That's unfortunate because the next president will find himself at the forefront in the debate over redrawing No Child Left Behind, the Bush administration's far-reaching and often-criticized education law.

About 12 percent of 1,200 adult respondents across the country cited education as their top issue, down from 16 percent in a similar poll two years ago, according to the Public Education Network, a national association of local education funds and individuals working to advance public school reform in low-income communities.

Gas prices topped the list, with 22 percent of respondents saying it was their most important issue. Jobs and the economy were next, then education, followed by health care, taxes, crime and homeland security.

Still, the poll found that education remains an important topic for many voters, one in which politicians, pundits and media are doing a poor job of addressing.

Roughly 83 percent said a presidential candidate's position on education was among the selections of "somewhat important," "very important" or "one of the most important" to their vote -- and a position they would like to know more about. The poll found that 60 percent said they had not heard enough about education in this year's campaign, and 63 percent said elected officials were not held accountable for their actions on public education.

Although education has not been a predominant topic on the campaign trail, the next president will face a crucial test in deciding what to do with No Child Left Behind, which calls on schools to show steady improvement every year among students of all demographic groups.

The law mandates that every student be proficient on state math and English tests by 2014 -- a goal that critics say is unattainable.

The law is past due for reauthorization, but Congress is not likely to tackle it until a new president is in the White House.

According to the poll, No Child Left Behind has split the electorate with 31 percent of respondents saying the law has helped the country's schools and another 31 percent saying it has hurt them. Black and Hispanic respondents, however, were more likely to view the law favorably than their white counterparts.

Overall, however, only 15 percent of respondents said the quality of schools has improved nationally while 40 percent said it declined.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama has proposed revising No Child Left Behind to make it less punitive on low-performing schools. He envisions expanded after-school and summer school programs, as well as scholarships for new teachers and aggressive recruiting of desperately needed math and science teachers.

Obama has also endorsed merit pay for teachers, a position that is at odds with the National Education Association, the country's largest union of teachers and other school staff.

Republican candidate John McCain's plan for education, on the other hand, rests on school choice. He plans to hold schools more accountable for their students' performance and wants to make it easier for parents to move their children out of low-performing schools.

The poll's margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.