The American public has sharpened its belief that the federal government should not play a dominant role in public education, with a majority saying they simply do not support initiatives that they believe were created or promoted by federal policymakers, a new survey shows.  Moreover, only 27 percent of respondents give President Barack Obama a grade of “A” or “B” for his performance in support of public schools – down from 41 percent in 2011. A majority of those surveyed, 54 percent, do not think standardized tests are helpful to teachers; many do not understand how charter schools work, and the number of Americans saying they are familiar with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) has skyrocketed in just one year, with a majority saying they oppose the standards.

Those and other findings are contained in the 46^th edition of the PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, released August 20, 2014.

Click here for the full press release.

46^th Annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools

• View the results of the September 2014 PDK/Gallup Poll
• About the poll
• Download a PDF of the PDK/Gallup poll
• Register for the PDK/Gallup poll webinars
• Put the public’s voice back in public schools
• What people are saying