Last spring I examined Gallup’s extensive trend data regarding Americans’ perceptions of public schools, which revealed the lowest confidence levels recorded since this question was first asked in 1973. While confidence ticked up a few points on the most recent survey (June 2013), just one-in-three (32{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) adults say they have a great deal of confidence or quite a lot of confidence in the country’s public schools. Twice as many (66{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) admit they have just some or very little confidence.

The April 2014 NBC/Wall Street Journal survey included a very similar question, asking respondents to rate confidence in public schools on a five point scale. Like the Gallup data, just 29{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of Americans said they have either “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in public schools.

Looking more closely at some key demographic subgroups:

Women (33{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} great deal/quite a bit) and younger adults (34{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) express higher levels of confidence in the public education system. Younger women are among the most supportive subgroups, with 37{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} describing themselves as having either “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of confidence in the institution. Four-in-ten (41{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) African Americans are confident, compared to just 28{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of white adults and 27{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of Hispanic adults. Significant differences emerge by party, with confidence 20 points higher among Democrats (39{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) than Republicans (19{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}). One-quarter (24{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) of Independents say they are confident. Fully, 41{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of Republicans say they have “very little” or “no confidence at all” in public schools (21{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} among Democrats, 34{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} among Independents). Parents (31{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) view public schools similarly to adults overall.

Interestingly, looking back to the 2007 data when the overall confidence level was nearly identical to where it sits today, there was a remarkable consistency in views across many subgroups. As the table below shows, there were only slight differences in confidence levels by gender, age, ethnicity and even party.

With Americans’ confidence in public schools only a few points higher than it is in the beleaguered automobile industry (27{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} confident on the same NBC/WSJ study) it is clear that action needs to be taken to reform schools and restore public trust in the institution.