US K-12 education satisfaction hits 27-year low

American satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education has dropped to 32%, the lowest level in a 27-year Gallup trend. According to a poll conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation, dissatisfaction has reached a record high of 67%.

The decline represents an 11-percentage-point drop over the last two years. The data shows significant political shifts: satisfaction among Democrats fell by approximately 19 percentage points since the start of Donald Trump’s second term in 2025, while satisfaction among independents dropped by about 10 points and Republicans saw a decrease of roughly 6 points.

Experts attribute the erosion of trust to several factors, including political polarization and concerns that schools are failing to prepare students for future jobs. Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, noted that the Trump administration has contributed to this decline by framing schools as political battlegrounds and pursuing moves to dismantle the Department of Education.