Public approval of the quality of K-12 education in the United States has reached a historic low, according to a survey conducted by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation in August 2026. Only 32 percent of American adults expressed "complete" or "somewhat" satisfaction with the nation’s school system, a sharp drop of 11 points from the previous two years. This marks the lowest level of public satisfaction with U.S. schools since Gallup began tracking the issue 27 years ago, with 67 percent of respondents now expressing dissatisfaction. The decline in public confidence has been particularly pronounced among Democrats, whose approval of the education system has fallen by about 19 points since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term in 2025. Independents and Republicans have also seen their satisfaction levels drop by 10 and six points, respectively. Jack Schneider, director of the Center for Education Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, pointed to the Trump administration’s policies as a contributing factor. These include efforts to limit classroom discussions on certain topics, roll back diversity and inclusion programs, and reduce the role of the federal Department of Education. Such actions, he argues, have framed schools as political arenas, eroding public trust. However, political tensions are not the only cause of public discontent. Gallup’s polling reveals that confidence in educational institutions has been declining since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to widespread school closures and disrupted learning. The pandemic’s impact has been compounded by ongoing reports of declining test scores, especially in reading, which have reinforced public concerns about the long-term effects of the crisis on students. These challenges have made it difficult for schools to recover and have fueled broader doubts about their effectiveness. Despite the national trend of declining satisfaction, parents of school-age children report a more positive view of their children’s education. About two-thirds of these parents say they are satisfied with their child’s schooling, though this is still the lowest level recorded since 2013. This gap between parent and general public sentiment highlights a consistent pattern: parents tend to have more confidence in their local schools than in the national system as portrayed in the media and by political leaders. A separate survey by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation explored how well schools prepare students for adulthood. Only about 20 percent of respondents believed schools were doing a "good" or "excellent" job of teaching critical thinking or preparing students for the workforce. However, schools received more favorable ratings for helping students adapt to new technologies, with 44 percent expressing approval in this area. Zach Hrynowski, a senior education researcher at Gallup, noted that the survey results reflect a broader sense of disillusionment with public institutions. "People have a general negative vibe about everything in the country right now," he said. "People are frustrated and don’t think any institution is working particularly well." The surveys were conducted using random sampling methods, with margins of error ranging from 3.0 to 8.3 percentage points, depending on the sample size and methodology used.