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Gallup Poll: Americans’ Satisfaction With US Schools Falls to Record-Low 32%/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Only 32% of American adults are satisfied with the quality of K-12 education nationwide, the lowest level recorded by Gallup in 27 years. Dissatisfaction reached 67%, reflecting political divisions and concerns about academic performance, critical thinking and workforce preparation. Parents remain more positive about their own children’s education, with roughly two-thirds reporting satisfaction despite a broader decline in confidence.

Quick Look

• National satisfaction with K-12 education fell to 32%.
• Dissatisfaction climbed to a record 67%.
• Satisfaction has declined 11 percentage points in two years.
• Democrats recorded the largest recent decline, falling about 19 points since 2025.
• About two-thirds of parents remain satisfied with their own children’s education.
• Only around 20% gave schools high marks for critical thinking or workforce preparation.
• Technology adaptability received the strongest rating, at 44%.
• Experts cited politics, test scores, artificial intelligence and classroom screen time as possible factors.
• Both surveys were conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation in August 2026.

Deep Look

Satisfaction with national school system reaches new low

American satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education has fallen to its lowest point since Gallup began measuring the issue 27 years ago.

An August survey conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation found that 32% of adults were completely or somewhat satisfied with the national school system. That represents an 11-percentage-point decline over two years.

Dissatisfaction reached 67%, the highest level in the poll’s historical trend.

Political groups show declining confidence

The decline occurred across partisan groups, although its size varied considerably.

Satisfaction among Democrats fell approximately 19 percentage points after President Donald Trump began his second term in 2025. Independents’ satisfaction was about 10 points below its 2024 level, while Republican satisfaction declined by approximately six points.

Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, attributed part of the decline among Democrats to the Trump administration’s education agenda.

The administration has sought to eliminate diversity programs, restructure or dismantle the Education Department and expand taxpayer-supported scholarships that families can use for private-school tuition.

That statement represents Schneider’s assessment of the administration’s policies, rather than a finding produced by the Gallup survey.

Academic performance adds to concerns

Political disagreement does not fully explain the decline in confidence. Public satisfaction with schools has generally fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted classroom instruction and intensified academic and mental-health challenges.

National testing documented steep declines following the pandemic. In 2022, scores for 9-year-olds fell five points in reading and seven points in mathematics compared with 2020.

More recent results show a mixed recovery. Scores for 9-year-olds increased in both subjects in 2025, but mathematics performance remained below its pre-pandemic level. Separately, 2024 reading scores for fourth- and eighth-grade students continued declines that had begun before the pandemic.

Reckhow also pointed to widespread debate about artificial intelligence, educational technology and students’ classroom screen time.

Parents view their own schools more favorably

The poll found a substantial gap between Americans’ assessment of the national system and parents’ opinions of their own children’s education.

Approximately two-thirds of parents with school-age children said they were satisfied with the education their child receives. That is about twice the national satisfaction rate of 32%.

Parental satisfaction has nevertheless declined to its lowest point since 2013.

The difference continues a longstanding pattern in education polling: People generally evaluate their local experiences more positively than the national system they encounter through political debate and media coverage.

Schools receive weak ratings for future preparation

A separate August survey asked adults how effectively schools prepare children for future education and employment.

Only about two in 10 respondents said schools were doing a good or excellent job of teaching critical-thinking skills. A similar share gave schools high marks for preparing students to enter the current workforce.

Schools received their strongest assessment for helping students adapt to new technologies, with 44% rating their performance as good or excellent.

Those findings suggest that respondents are especially concerned about whether students are developing reasoning abilities and practical skills needed beyond graduation.

Broader institutional frustration may play a role

Gallup senior education researcher Zach Hrynowski said the results may also reflect a wider decline in confidence toward American institutions.

That broader dissatisfaction could help explain why national schools receive much lower ratings than the schools parents encounter directly.

How Gallup conducted the surveys

Gallup conducted the first survey by telephone from Aug. 3 through Aug. 24, 2026, using a random sample of American adults aged 18 and older.

The margin of sampling error was plus or minus four percentage points for adults overall. Results involving parents of K-12 students carried a larger margin of error of plus or minus 8.3 points.

The second poll surveyed 2,143 adults from Aug. 3 through Aug. 17 using Gallup’s probability-based panel, which is designed to represent the U.S. adult population. Its overall margin of sampling error was plus or minus three percentage points.

Margins of error mean small differences—particularly between demographic or political groups—should be interpreted cautiously

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