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US adults' satisfaction with K-12 schools hits record low, Gallup finds
Just 32% of American adults are satisfied with the nation's K-12 school system, the lowest level in 27 years of Gallup polling, with political divides and post-pandemic academic concerns driving the decline.
American adults' satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education in the United States has fallen to its lowest point in nearly three decades, according to new Gallup polling. Just 32% of adults say they are completely or somewhat satisfied with the country's school system, an 11-point drop over the past two years and the lowest figure since Gallup began tracking the question 27 years ago. Dissatisfaction has correspondingly risen to 67%, a record high.
The August survey, conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation and shared with The Associated Press, points to a deepening political divide as a major factor in the slide. Democrats' satisfaction has dropped about 19 points since 2025, while independents' satisfaction is down roughly 10 points from 2024. Republicans' satisfaction has also fallen, though more modestly, by about 6 points. Education policy experts say the findings are troubling but not unexpected, given the intense political scrutiny schools have faced in recent years.
Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said the Trump administration has contributed to eroding public confidence by framing schools as political battlegrounds, questioning what teachers may say in classrooms, moving to dismantle diversity programs, and seeking to abolish the U.S. Education Department. He also noted that Democrats are particularly alarmed by the administration's signature school choice initiative, which would use taxpayer-supported scholarships to fund private school tuition. «It's terrifying. We're on the precipice of the dissolution of the public education system as we have known it,» Schneider said.
Politics alone, however, does not explain the broad decline. Gallup's data show that public confidence in schools has been eroding since the COVID-19 pandemic forced classrooms to close, exacerbating academic setbacks, mental health struggles, and other challenges. Persistent headlines about falling national test scores, especially in reading, have reinforced a narrative that schools have failed to recover from pandemic-era losses. «We've had a drumbeat of bad news about test scores and other social trends that could be driving this,» said Sarah Reckhow, a political science professor at Michigan State University who studies public policy. She also pointed to widespread debate over technology and artificial intelligence in education, as well as growing concerns about students' screen time at school.
Despite the grim national outlook, parents with school-age children hold a markedly different view of their own children's schools. About two-thirds of these parents say they are satisfied with their child's education. While that figure is also at a low point, matching levels not seen since 2013, it is roughly double the satisfaction rate adults express for the national system. The gap reflects a longstanding pattern in which parents judge their local schools more favorably than the institutions they hear about in political discourse and national media. «When people weigh in about the nation's schools, what they are commenting on are 98,999 schools that they haven't set foot in,» Schneider said.
A second Gallup and Walton survey, also conducted in August, asked Americans how well schools are preparing children for the future. Only about 2 in 10 respondents said schools are doing a good or excellent job teaching critical thinking or preparing students for the current workforce. Schools received their highest marks for helping students adapt to new technologies, with 44% giving high ratings in that area. Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher at Gallup, said the findings reflect a broader frustration with American institutions. «People have a general negative vibe about everything in the country right now,» Hrynowski said. «People are frustrated, and don't think any institution is working particularly well.»
The first poll was conducted by telephone from Aug. 3-24, 2026, among a random sample of U.S. adults ages 18 and older, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points. For parents of K-12 students, the margin is plus or minus 8.3 points. The second poll surveyed 2,143 adults from Aug. 3-17, 2026, using Gallup's probability-based panel, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 points.
