The results reflect an 8 percentage-point decline since 2024 and one point lower than the previous record lows recorded in 2000 and 2023.
The lowest number of Americans in more than two decades said they are satisfied with K–12 education in the United States, according to a Walton Family Foundation-Gallup poll released on Sept. 16.
The results reflect the lowest satisfaction level in K–12 education since Gallup first conducted the poll in 1999.
The survey, which polled respondents by phone through Aug. 1 and Aug. 20, determined that just 35 percent of Americans are satisfied with the quality of schooling that K–12 students receive today.
The result is an 8 percentage-point decline since 2024 and one point lower than the previous record lows recorded in 2000 and 2023.
Among the respondents polled, 7 percent said they are “completely” satisfied with K–12 education, while 28 percent reported being “somewhat satisfied.”
Additionally, 38 percent of respondents were “somewhat” and 24 percent were “completely” dissatisfied.
Gallup said that satisfaction in K–12 education in America has only climbed above 50 percent twice in the 26 years it has conducted the poll: 53 percent in 2004 and 51 percent in 2019.
“Only about one-quarter of Americans think K–12 schools are headed in the right direction, while just one in five rate them as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ at preparing students for today’s jobs, and one in three say the same for college,” Gallup’s Megan Brenan wrote in a news release.
However, the poll also found that parents of current K–12 students are almost twice as satisfied with their own child’s education compared to their impression of broader education throughout the United States.
These parents are also “slightly more likely” than U.S. adults in general to grade various aspects of education positively. These include the direction of American education and how schools prepare students for college and the workforce.
Gallup noted that Americans’ satisfaction with K–12 education is often influenced by their party identification, with Republicans and Democrats typically reporting higher levels of satisfaction when their party holds the White House.
This year’s satisfaction drop is mostly impacted by Democrats and independents, according to Gallup.
Satisfaction among Democrats dropped by 12 points to 42 percent, which nearly ties 2003’s low for the party at 41 percent.
Independents’ satisfaction in K–12 education fell by eight points to 34 percent, the group’s lowest number on record for the poll.
Meanwhile, Gallup’s poll found satisfaction among Republicans hovered at 29 percent, which is “statistically similar” to 2024’s 31 percent.
As for how Americans see the future of K–12 education, only 26 percent said they felt schools were headed in the right direction, while 73 percent said they are going in the wrong direction.
While these views were mostly consistent across political parties, there were some differences depending on age and education, Gallup said.
Adults between the ages of 18 and 29 (29 percent) and Americans without college degrees (28 percent) are slightly more likely to say schools are going in the right direction compared to their peers.
Written by Jacob Burg for The Epoch Times ~ September 17, 2025