A Gallup poll released Tuesday shows that only 32% of American adults say they are “completely” or “somewhat” satisfied with the quality of K‑12 education in the United States. That marks an 11‑point drop over the past two years and the lowest level since Gallup began tracking the question 27 years ago. Dissatisfaction rose to a high of 67%.
Political context and the Trump administration’s school‑choice push
Experts note that the decline in confidence aligns with a growing partisan divide. Democrats’ satisfaction fell about 19 points since President Trump began his second term in 2025, while Republicans saw a modest six‑point dip. The Trump administration has framed the issue as a failure of the federal education bureaucracy and has responded by expanding its signature school‑choice program, which provides taxpayer‑funded scholarships for families to send children to private schools. Administration officials argue that expanding parental choice restores families’ control over education and counters politicized curricula.
Parents remain more optimistic than the nation’s adults
Despite the bleak national picture, roughly two‑thirds of parents with school‑age children say they are satisfied with their child’s education – a low point for parents since 2013, but still double the overall adult satisfaction rate. “When people weigh in about the nation’s schools, they are commenting on schools they have never set foot in,” said Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Broader concerns about preparation and outcomes
The poll also asked whether schools are preparing students for the future. Only about 20% of respondents said schools are doing a “good” or “excellent” job teaching critical thinking or preparing students for the current workforce. The highest rating, at 44%, was for schools’ ability to help students adapt to new technologies.
Methodology
The first Gallup poll was conducted by telephone from Aug. 3‑24, 2026, using a random sample of U.S. adults ages 18 and older. The margin of error for the overall adult sample is ±4.0 percentage points. A second poll of 2,143 adults was conducted Aug. 3‑17, 2026, using Gallup’s probability‑based panel, with a margin of error of ±3.0 percentage points.
Original reporting: Alexandria, VA News – WTOP News — read the source article.
