Public approval of the quality of K-12 education in the United States has fallen to an unprecedented low, driven by a growing political divide and widespread concerns that schools are failing to prepare children for college and future careers.

Only 32 percent of American adults report feeling “completely” or “somewhat” satisfied with the nation’s school system, according to an August survey published by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation and shared exclusively with The Associated Press. The figure represents an 11-point decline over the past two years, marking the lowest level of satisfaction since Gallup began tracking the issue 27 years ago.

At the same time, dissatisfaction has surged to a record high of 67 percent.

Education and school policy experts describe the survey results as deeply troubling, though not unexpected.

The recent drop is largely driven by Democrats, whose satisfaction has fallen by roughly 19 points since President Donald Trump’s second term began in 2025. Approval among independents has also declined by about 10 points since 2024, while Republican satisfaction has dropped by about six points.

Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, noted that the Trump administration has contributed to declining public trust by framing schools as political battlegrounds. He pointed to administration efforts to restrict what teachers can discuss in classrooms, eliminate diversity initiatives, and dismantle the federal Department of Education.

“It’s terrifying. We’re on the precipice of the dissolution of the public education system as we have known it,” Schneider said. He added that Democrats are also particularly concerned by Trump’s flagship school choice initiative, which uses publicly funded scholarships to cover private school tuition.

Political friction, however, is not the sole cause of the public’s discontent. Gallup polling shows that general confidence in educational institutions has steadily waned since the COVID-19 pandemic forced widespread classroom closures, aggravating academic setbacks, mental health challenges, and other disruptions.

A continuous stream of news reports highlighting falling national test scores, particularly in reading, has reinforced the perception that schools are struggling to recover from pandemic-era setbacks.

“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 specializes in public policy. “There’s a ton of debate, discussion and noise about technology and AI in education,” she noted, adding that classroom screen time has recently featured prominently in education news.

Parents, however, hold a distinctly different view when evaluating their own children’s schooling. Roughly two-thirds of parents with school-age children say they are satisfied with their child’s education. While this also represents a low point in the trend—matching levels not seen since 2013—it remains double the 32 percent approval rate expressed by the general adult public.

This divergence highlights a consistent trend: parents tend to feel far more confident in their local schools than in the broader national picture portrayed by headlines and political leaders.

“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 separate August survey by Gallup and Walton explored how effectively schools prepare students for adulthood. Only about two in 10 respondents felt schools did a “good” or “excellent” job of instilling critical thinking skills or preparing students for the workforce. Schools earned their highest marks for preparing children to adapt to new technologies, with 44 percent rating performance favorably in that area.

Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher at Gallup, said the results point to broader cynicism toward public 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.”

Gallup conducted the first survey by telephone between Aug. 3-24, 2026, using a random sample of US adults aged 18 and older. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4.0 percentage points for all adults and plus or minus 8.3 percentage points for K-12 parents. A second poll of 2,143 adults was conducted Aug. 3-17, 2026, using Gallup’s probability-based panel, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.0 percentage points.