More than 70 percent of Americans say they have confidence in public schools teachers, and 69 percent gave A or B grades to the teachers in their local public schools – compared with only 50 percent giving their local teachers at least a B grade in 1984.
Such were the findings of the 43rd annual PDK/Gallup Poll, which was the subject of an event, co-sponsored by GW’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Gallup, the Lumina Foundation and Phi Delta Kappa International, Thursday in the Jack Morton Auditorium.
Bob Wise, former governor of West Virginia, was one of the seven speakers at the event, Public Perception of U.S. Education. A statement was read from Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, who had been scheduled to attend.
In his welcome, Michael J. Feuer, dean of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, told the audience – which included several hundred viewers of a live feed – that for this event, “Timing is really everything, or it’s at least important.”
“If this event had been scheduled for just nine days from today, chances are there would have been no room in this building and no parking in the neighborhood,” he said. “That’s when we will bear witness to what I have always felt is one of the uniquely American educational rituals that takes place all across the land around this time of year.”
Starting on Aug. 27, bystanders on campus can observe “one of our most delightful and optimistic and hopeful and hallowed traditions,” when the class of 2015 arrives on campus. “These young people and their families might not know all the statistics,” he said, “but I think they are clearly making a very rational decision.”
Most of the students will finish in four years, and six months after graduation two thirds will have jobs, 20 percent will be in graduate school and the rest will likely be in the military or engaged in “other socially and economically useful activities,” Dr. Feuer said.
“It’s a remarkable experiment that has been underway for several hundred years. Why are we here today? Because with this great experiment there is a cacophony of opinion and a cacophony of expertise,” he said. “The introduction of data about something that we hold so dear – the future of American education – is exactly one of the functions of a great university.”
William Bushaw, executive director of PDK, was one of the speakers who helped decipher the data from the study and what it reveals about education in America.
“Americans expect quality in the food we eat, the clothes we buy, the cars we drive, so it’s not surprising there’s an increasing demand for quality in our public schools,” Dr. Bushaw said. “Among other things, this year’s PDK Gallup poll results show that Americans recognize the need for high-quality teachers in order to have high-quality schools.”