社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Satisfaction with America鈥檚 public education system reached a record low in the latest iteration of a Gallup poll that鈥檚 been measuring opinions on U.S. society and policy since 2001.

The published Feb. 5 found that 73% of 1,005 adult respondents were dissatisfied with the quality of public education in the U.S. It鈥檚 the highest dissatisfaction rate since the survey began, and a 5-point increase from last year鈥檚 rate of 68%. In 2001, dissatisfaction was at 57%.

The survey鈥檚 respondents, who were polled from Jan. 2 to 15, weighed in on 31 topics including the nation鈥檚 security, race relations, gun policies and health care affordability.聽

People were most content with America鈥檚 military strength and preparedness, with a 63% satisfaction rate. Overall quality of life, the position of women in the nation and the opportunity for people to get ahead by working hard followed.

The quality of public education fell near the bottom of the satisfaction list. Only the nation’s moral and ethical climate and its efforts to deal with poverty and homelessness ranked lower.

Though the new poll didn’t delve into specifics, a asked why respondents were dissatisfied with K-12 education. The top five answers were poor or outdated curriculum, poor quality education, lack of teaching basic subjects, political agendas being taught and students not learning life skills.

Previous Gallup surveys over the past two decades parents of school-aged children are much more likely to be satisfied with the quality of their own child鈥檚 education than with the nation鈥檚 education system overall. Last year, found that 70% of parents of K-12 students said they were either completely or somewhat satisfied with the education their oldest child received.

In the new poll, Americans鈥� average satisfaction among all the topic areas was at 38%, down from 41% in January 2021 and 48% in 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey found that members of both political parties were also dissatisfied with the quality of public education in the U.S. Only 16% of Republican respondents and 30% of Democrats said they were satisfied.

鈥淎mericans’ persistent low satisfaction with national conditions may be hard for the nation鈥檚 leaders to address,鈥� says. 鈥淗owever, the rank order of concerns resulting from this poll offers [President Donald] Trump and officials at all levels of government guidance on where the public might appreciate them focusing their efforts.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.