Most Parents Satisfied with their Children’s Schooling: Gallup

By Steven Hogg - 03 Sep '14 08:54AM

Nearly half of US parents of school-going children are satisfied with the quality of education imparted to their wards right from kindergarten to high school. In a poll conducted by Gallup, nearly 48 percent of parents said they were "completely" or "somewhat satisfied" with the education system.

Gallup has been conducting the poll since 1999 and the highest level of satisfaction was noted in 2004 when it reached 53 percent. The least satisfied were in 2000 (61 percent) when 6 in 10 showed said they were not happy despite education being a major part of the presidential campaign that year.

In recent years the figure has varied from 43 to 46 percent. The satisfaction level seems to have increased a little this year. The poll noticed that parents with children in grade 12, almost 57 percent, were more satisfied with the education than adult Americans as a whole.

This maybe because their perception is based on their child's education than the whole system, say the observers. The rest are more influenced by the negative press that the educations system of the country receives.

But there are some who say that parents should be worried. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results for 2012 show that the U.S. is behind in some core areas

Out of 34 Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development or OECD countries, the U.S. ranks 27 in mathematics. Reading and Science fetched it average scores; it placed between 14 and 20 for reading and 17-25 for science.

"While the U.S. spends more per student than most countries, this does not translate into better performance. For example, the Slovak Republic, which spends around $53,000 per student, performs at the same level as the United States, which spends over $115,000 per student," stated PISA's report.

In related news, a report by Save the Children released Tuesday says that 74 percent of parents with school-going children believe that the federal government is not prepared to protect their kids from disasters. The report has evaluated the states' preparedness based on four guidelines initiated by government bodies post the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It looks at the states' evacuation and relocation plans, family-child reunification plans, children with special needs plans and K-12 multiple disaster plans.