The popular pollster Gallup has found that Americans are not feeling satisfied with the current level of public education, dropping to a record low in the new survey.
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The annual State of the Nation report was released on Wednesday and highlighted that just 24% of Americans are satisfied with public education, while 73% reported feelings of dissatisfaction. That figure is the lowest received by Gallup since it first started the poll in 2001.
Broken down by partisan affiliations, the survey found that only 16% of Republicans are either somewhat or very satisfied with public education. That number jumps to 30% among Democrats.
The survey’s findings come at an interesting time for the world of education, as President Trump has again questioned the necessity of the Department of Education, suggesting he may sign an executive order soon to shutter its doors or at least weaken it.
“We’re ranked number 40 out of 40 schools, right? We’re ranked number one in cost per pupil, so we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world, and we’re ranked at the bottom of the list. We’re ranked very badly. And what I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said from the Oval Office on Tuesday.
Trump has also signed an executive order that will see the federal government push states to use federal funding to assist school choice programs.
The plan to shut down the Department of Education has been criticized by many, as the department employs around 4,400 people and has a budget of $68 billion. Some have said that if the department were to be shut down, millions of teachers could see their pay affected.
Still, Trump’s ability to actually shutdown the Department of Education is questionable, as George Theoharis, a professor at Syracuse University’s Teaching and Leadership Department, told Newsweek that eliminating it completely would have to be an act of Congress.
Still, he says Trump can “diminish it.”
“Some districts use [federal funds] to lower class size, particularly for younger kids in first, second, or third grade. If Title I money went away, would that impact class size for some students? It’s possible,” Theoharis said.
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