27%
2026 (latest)
CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
percent with a great deal or quite a lot of confidence · 1973–2026 · higher is better · Gallup, Confidence in Institutions
58%
1973
62%
high · 1975
26%
low · 2014
−31 pts
since 1973
┊ dashed lines mark 1979 Oil shock & inflation peak · 1987 Black Monday crash · 1991 Gulf War recession · 2001 Dot-com bust & 9/11 · 2008 Global financial crisis · 2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Method & caveats. Gallup's annual June Confidence in Institutions poll (telephone, ~1,000 adults): "Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one — a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little?" Value is great deal + quite a lot. Asked every year since 1993 and irregularly before; where Gallup polled twice in one year (1991) the later poll is kept.
Sources
Every value on this page is read from the publisher below. Current and historical source documents:
- https://news.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence-institutions.aspx
- https://github.com/danielmiessler/substrate/tree/main/Data/US-Societal-Health
Data
| Year | Confidence in Public Schools | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 27% | −2.0 pts |
| 2025 | 29% | +0.0 pts |
| 2024 | 29% | +3.0 pts |
| 2023 | 26% | −2.0 pts |
| 2022 | 28% | −4.0 pts |
| 2021 | 32% | −9.0 pts |
| 2020 | 41% | +12 pts |
| 2019 | 29% | +0.0 pts |
| 2018 | 29% | −7.0 pts |
| 2017 | 36% | +6.0 pts |
| 2016 | 30% | −1.0 pts |
| 2015 | 31% | +5.0 pts |
| 2014 | 26% | −6.0 pts |
| 2013 | 32% | +3.0 pts |
| 2012 | 29% | −5.0 pts |
| 2011 | 34% | +0.0 pts |
| 2010 | 34% | −4.0 pts |
| 2009 | 38% | +5.0 pts |
| 2008 | 33% | +0.0 pts |
| 2007 | 33% | −4.0 pts |
| 2006 | 37% | +0.0 pts |
| 2005 | 37% | −4.0 pts |
| 2004 | 41% | +1.0 pts |
| 2003 | 40% | +2.0 pts |
| 2002 | 38% | +0.0 pts |
| 2001 | 38% | +1.0 pts |
| 2000 | 37% | +1.0 pts |
| 1999 | 36% | −1.0 pts |
| 1998 | 37% | −3.0 pts |
| 1997 | 40% | +2.0 pts |
| 1996 | 38% | −2.0 pts |
| 1995 | 40% | +6.0 pts |
| 1994 | 34% | −5.0 pts |
| 1993 | 39% | +4.0 pts |
| 1991 | 35% | −10 pts |
| 1990 | 45% | +2.0 pts |
| 1989 | 43% | −6.0 pts |
| 1988 | 49% | −1.0 pts |
| 1987 | 50% | +1.0 pts |
| 1986 | 49% | +1.0 pts |
| 1985 | 48% | +0.0 pts |
| 1984 | 48% | +9.0 pts |
| 1983 | 39% | −3.0 pts |
| 1981 | 42% | −11 pts |
| 1979 | 53% | +0.0 pts |
| 1977 | 53% | −9.0 pts |
| 1975 | 62% | +4.0 pts |
| 1973 | 58% | — |
Also in Trust & Institutions