Republicans’ confidence in public schools drops: Gallup

Republicans’ confidence in the U.S. public school system has plunged to a record low, according to a new Gallup poll. 

The poll, published on Thursday, found that 14 percent of Republican respondents said that they have a great deal of confidence in the public school system in the U.S. This is a 6-point decrease from the previous year, according to the survey giant. 

Fifty percent of Republican respondents in the new poll said they have very little to no confidence in the country’s public school system. 

By comparison, 43 percent of Democrats surveyed said they have a great deal of confidence in the country’s school system, as did 29 percent of independents. 

Overall, 28 percent of respondents said they have a great deal of confidence in the country’s public school system, while 31 percent of respondents said they have very little confidence in the it, and 39 percent of respondents said they have some confidence. 

The poll comes amid a growing partisan debate surrounding the country’s public schools, as Democrats and Republicans have butted heads over issues including critical race theory, LGBTQ rights and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. 

Florida’s legislature, for example, passed and enacted laws recently involving issues in U.S. schools such as the Parental Rights in Education law, referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prohibits teachers from classroom instruction related to sexual orientation and gender identity.

The new Gallup poll was conducted from June 1 to June 20, with a total of 1,015 respondents in the survey. The margin of error of the survey is 4 percentage points.