Sep 11, 2009 10:00 AM

What the Public Thinks of Public Schools

Six months ago I thought this country was ready to deal with the serious problems in our schools. This new survey would suggest that's the case. But having watched the healtcare reform debate/debacle, I now have my doubts.

According to the just released Education Next poll put out by the Hoover Institution, public assessment of schools has fallen to the lowest level recorded since Americans were first asked to grade schools in 1981. Just 18% of those surveyed gave schools a grade of an A or a B, down from 30% reported by a Gallup poll as recently as 2005.
No less than 25% of those polled by Education Next gave the schools either an F or a D. (In 2005, only 20% gave schools such low marks.)

That's from a pretty good WSJ piece on recent surveys of parents about schools. Six months ago I thought this country was ready to deal with the serious problems in our schools. This new survey would suggest that's the case. But having watched the healtcare reform debate/debacle, I now have my doubts.

David Dobbs, author of the Kindle Single bestseller My Mother's Lover, writes features and essays for publications including the Atlantic, the New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Nature, and other publications. He is working on his fourth book, The Orchid and the Dandelion. You also follow his wider wanderings on ... Read more

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