Confidence in American public schools has dropped to an all-time low, according to a national survey that also showed support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the school system and resistance to artificial intelligence in the classroom.
Administered by the international educators organization PDK International, the PDK Poll has surveyed adults from across the nation on the state of K-12 public schools since 1969.
This year’s poll revealed that only 13% of approximately 1,000 adults gave the nation’s public schools an A or B grade on a scale ranging from A-F — down from 24% in 2016 and the highest rating of 26% in 2004.
This year’s poll also revealed rising support for private school choice options — using public funds to send a child to a religious or private school — support for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, widespread opposition to President Donald Trump’s plan to dismantle the Department of Education and growing opposition to AI and cellphones in the classroom.
The poll comes as Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders expanding school choice options, encouraging the use of artificial intelligence in schools and returning educational control to the states by dismantling the Department of Education.
But despite the Trump administration’s insistence on dismantling the department, the majority of surveyed Americans opposed eliminating the department and believe it would have a negative impact on public education. According to the poll, 66% of adults opposed or strongly opposed eliminating the department — including 38% of Republicans, 66% of independents and 93% of Democrats.
Most respondents — 65% — said they believe the department’s elimination would have a negative impact on public schools, including 61% of independents and 92% of Democrats. Republicans were split, with 39% who said they believe the department’s elimination would have a negative impact on public schools, and 38% who said they believe it would have a positive impact.
Support for school choice also increased slightly. According to the results, 59% of parents said they would send their child to a private or religious school if they were offered at least partial funding — up from 56% of parents last year. Across party lines, 71% of Republicans, 84% of independents and 47% of Democrats said they would use public funding to send their child to a private or religious school.
But support for the use of artificial intelligence in the classroom decreased from last year. According to the poll results, 49% of respondents said they supported or strongly supported the use of artificial intelligence to prepare teachers’ lesson plans, down from 62% last year. Support for the use of AI to tutor students dipped from 65% last year to 60% in this year’s poll, while support for the use of AI as practice for students taking standardized tests dropped from 64% last year to to 54% and support for students using artificial intelligence to prepare their homework dropped from 43% last year to 38% this year.
Respondents’ waning support for artificial intelligence in education comes as Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a partnership earlier this month between the California State University and California Community College systems and leading technology companies — including Google, Adobe, IBM and Microsoft — to provide AI for use by students and faculty. While the partnership focuses on higher education, the agreement for the companies includes the option to provide artificial intelligence programs to high school students and schools.
This year’s poll results also revealed that 40% of respondents supported a complete ban on cellphone use throughout the school, while 46% supported limiting cellphone use to only at lunch or between classes. Only about 11% of respondents did not support a cellphone ban, including 2% of Republicans, 11% of independents and 7% of Democrats.
Last year, Gov. Newsom signed legislation requiring all California schools to limit smartphone use during the school day by July 2026, citing concerns that students’ smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. But Bay Area schools have been split on the issue, with some arguing cellphones are necessary for many families and proposed bans don’t make sense in schools that rely on technology to support students’ learning.
The majority of respondents — 61% — identified diversity, inclusion and equity initiatives as very important or somewhat in public education, while 23% said DEI initiatives are not very important or not at all important. Across party lines, 62% of independents and 89% of Democrats identified DEI initiatives as important, while 22% of Republicans identified DEI initiatives as important and 42% of Republicans identified DEI as not important or not very important.
The poll response comes as Trump has sought to eliminate DEI efforts in schools across the country. Since Trump stepped into office in January, his administration has cancelled millions in grant funding for programs and research related to diversity, equity and inclusion, launched an ‘End DEI” portal encouraging school community members to submit reports of sex- and race-based discrimination in K-12 schools and threatened to cut public schools’ funding unless they eliminated all diversity programs and practices.
Among other poll results, respondents identified expanding career and technical education programs, addressing teacher shortages, improving teacher pay and providing security measures to keep students and teachers safe as important issues in public education. The majority of respondents also said providing more control to states and school districts over education policy and funding, educating students about using technology like AI and social media, and making sure students feel like they belong as important issues.
