A new poll claims Americans' overall satisfaction levels with the quality of K-12 education in the United States is at a record low.
According to a Gallup poll released Thursday, satisfaction with the country's education system has fallen six percentage points in the past year to match a record-low not seen in 24 years.
The poll shows only 36% of Americans are completely or somewhat satisfied with U.S. education, matching the record low in 2000. Meanwhile, 38% are somewhat dissatisfied and 25% are completely dissatisfied.
As for what's driving the decline, Gallup says there's quite a political divide.
Along party lines, Gallup says Americans on both sides of the political aisle unhappy with the education system. Only 25% of Republicans -- a record low and 18 points below the 43% historical average for the group -- and 44% of Democrats are at least somewhat satisfied with education in the U.S.
"The latest divergent readings among partisans are in stark contrast to 2000, the last time overall satisfaction among U.S. adults was at today's level. At that time, there was little difference between partisans' satisfaction levels," the poll noted.
On the other hand, parents of K-12 students remain largely satisfied with the quality of the education their child is receiving, according to the poll, as 76% say they are "completely" or "somewhat" satisfied -- significantly higher than the 67% low on that measure from 2013. Another 12% are "somewhat dissatisfied" and 9% are "completely dissatisfied."
Parents of K-12 students are also satisfied with their children's teachers. The poll shows nearly three-quarters of parents say the performance of their children's teachers is "excellent" (36%) or "good" (37%), while 20% offer a "fair" and 7% a "poor" rating.
"These [teacher satisfaction] ratings, which are similar to the previous time the question was asked in 2018, may explain, at least in part, why parents rate their children's education so positively," the poll noted.