How satisfied are you with our schools? The latest results show a pretty mixed and partisan picture:
Bottom Line: Now that we're back to school Gallup's back with their annual research on our views of our schools. As the headline suggests there appear to be political overtures to our general opinion. First here's our collective view of our K through 12 schools:
- 47%: Satisfied with the quality of education
- 52%: Dissatisfied with the quality of education
What's notable is that the last year a majority of Americans were satisfied with our K-12 grade schools generally was 2004 (when 53% of Americans were satisfied with our education system). I mentioned a political bend to the picture. This question isn't as clearly partisan as many but there is a clear connection.
51% of Democrats are currently satisfied with our education system compared to 43% of Republicans. Taking a longer view we see that there appear to be slight political trends. Notably, the last time that a majority of Republicans viewed our education system positively was during the Bush administration. During six of the eight Bush years a majority of Republicans held a positive view. During that same time a majority Democrats held a negative view of education all eight years.
Now for the facts. There's a reason why a majority of Americans aren't satisfied with the state of K-12 education in this country. They shouldn't be. In 1980, at the origin of the Department of Education, the United States ranked 2nd in the world in K-12 education. Today we're down to 17 and falling. It's time for school choice...that's actually where my other story on this topic picks up today...