Americans Know How Bad Their Schools Are. Why Are They Allowing Common Core?

Americans Grade Obama Poorly on Education

The biggest problem facing public schools in America is a lack of financial support, a new poll reveals — but Democrats and Republicans differ sharply on the issue.

For 46 years, the Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation has sponsored a poll, in partnership with Gallup, to determine Americans' attitudes toward education in this country.

In the most recent survey, respondents were asked what they consider the most serious problem public schools in their community must deal with. Overall, 32 percent said lack of financial support, up significantly from 21 percent in 2004, and 36 percent of public school parents agreed.

Only 9 percent cited concerns about educational standards, 9 percent said lack of discipline/use of drugs/fighting and gangs, and 8 percent said difficulty in getting good teachers and the need for more teachers.

But more than twice as many Democrats than Republicans, 45 percent to 21 percent, cited a lack of financial support as the biggest problem, and twice as many cited difficulty in getting good teachers. Eleven percent of Republicans cited lack of discipline, compared to 7 percent of Democrats.

Respondents in the PDK/Gallup poll were asked: "President Obama is continuing his second term in office. How would you grade his performance in support of public schools using the A, B, C, D, or Fail scale?"

The results: Just 5 percent gave him an A — down from 9 percent last year — 22 percent a B, 29 percent a C, 16 percent a D, and 27 percent said Fail, up from 18 percent last year and 15 percent in 2011.

Not surprisingly, no Republican respondents gave Obama an A this year and 49 percent said Fail, while only 16 percent of Democrats gave him an A, as did just 2 percent of independents.

Asked to grade the schools in their community, 12 percent of respondents gave them an A, 38 percent a B, 31 percent a C, 11 percent a D, and 6 percent said Fail.

But asked to grade public schools in the nation as a whole, just 1 percent gave them an A, while 51 percent said C, and 10 percent said Fail, up from 6 percent in 2013.

Other findings of the PDK/Gallup survey include:

• 70 percent of those polled favor charter schools, including 62 percent of public school parents.
• 56 percent said the local school board should have the greatest influence in deciding what is taught in public schools, while 28 percent chose the state government and just 15 percent picked the federal government.
• 54 percent believe standardized tests are not helpful to teachers.
• Just 33 percent of respondents favor having teachers use the Common Core State Standards to guide what they teach, while 60 percent are opposed.