American satisfaction with the quality of K-12 education hit a 27-year low this year at just 32%, according to Gallup. Satisfaction plummeted 11 percentage points over the last two years alone.
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction hit a record high at 67%.
"Satisfaction has averaged 44% since 1999," wrote Megan Brenan, senior editor at Gallup, in a Sept. 7 analysis. "After peaking at 53% in 2004, it has only been above 50% once, at 51% in 2019."
In 2025, there was a 35% satisfaction rate. It was the last time satisfaction came close to this year's low of 32%.
American's satisfaction with U.S K-12 education hits record low since 1999
Nearly half of Americans said that the nation's schools did a poor job of preparing students to think critically and solve problems. "Preparing students for the current world of work" and "preparing students to work effectively with others" rounded out the three most poorly rated categories.
However, 44% of Americans said schools did a good or excellent job of preparing students to adapt to new technologies, while 41% said schools did a fair job preparing students for college, and 42% said the same for preparing students to effectively use artificial intelligence tools.
"U.S. adults offer largely negative ratings of the job the nation’s schools are doing in preparing students for the future across a range of areas," said Brenan.
Americans' ratings of K-12 schools' preparation of students
Parents of K-12 students were more likely to rate schools' performance more positively across the six areas of preparation than those who didn't have a child in the education system.
Slightly over half of K-12 parents said schools did an excellent or good job of preparing students to adapt to new technologies. The next-most highly-rated skill categories were preparing students to work effectively with others and preparing students for college.
However, parents were the least likely to rate schools as doing an excellent or good job at "preparing students for the current world of work."
K-12 parents' ratings of schools' preparation of students more positive
Consistent with previous years, parents are much more likely to say they are satisfied with the quality of their own child's education compared to the quality of the K-12 education system nationally. However, parents' 66% satisfaction rating even for their own child's K-12 education in 2026 also marks a new low, dipping just 1 percentage point below the previous low recorded in 2013.
The last time parent satisfaction with their own child's education reached a record high was 83% in 1999, when Gallup first began to report this information.
"Meanwhile, the persistent gap between parents’ ratings of their own child’s education and of U.S. education overall suggests that Americans' concerns are less about their own child’s school and more about the state of the system nationwide," Brenan said.
