Americans' satisfaction with schools is at a low point, new Gallup poll shows

Americans’ satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education in the country has hit a low point, driven by a growing political divide and concerns that schools are not preparing children for college and future jobs. Just 32% of American adults say they are “completely” or “somewhat” satisfied with the U.S. school system, according to an August poll published Tuesday by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation and shared exclusively with The Associated Press.

That’s an 11-point drop over the past two years and the lowest since Gallup began polling on the subject 27 years ago. At the same time, dissatisfaction has increased to a high of 67%. Experts on education and school policy say the findings are deeply concerning but not surprising.

Democrats are driving the recent slide, with their satisfaction dropping about 19 points since President Donald Trump’s second term began in 2025. Independents’ satisfaction appears to be down as well, about 10 points from 2024, while Republicans’ satisfaction has also fallen slightly, about 6 points. The Trump administration has played a role in eroding public confidence by depicting schools as political battlegrounds, raising concerns about what teachers should be allowed to say in the classroom and moving to abolish diversity programs and dismantle the Education Department, said Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

We’re on the precipice of the dissolution of the public education system as we have known it,” Schneider said. Democrats, he said, are also particularly concerned by Trump’s signature school choice program that will use taxpayer-supported scholarships to pay for kids’ private school tuition. National test scores have fallen since the pandemic But politics alone does not explain the dissatisfaction.

Gallup polling shows public confidence in schools generally has declined since the COVID-19 pandemic closed classrooms, exacerbating academic declines, mental health issues and other problems. Headlines have consistently told a story of a national drop in test scores, especially in reading, which sends a message that schools have struggled to rebound since COVID lows. “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…