Good schools fuel the American Dream — and both are out of reach, poll shows

The new survey also finds most Americans are dissatisfied with K-12 schools.

The new survey also finds most Americans are dissatisfied with K-12 schools. Nearly all of Americans — 92 percent — say a quality education is key to achieving the American Dream, yet most are unhappy with the state of K-12 schools, according to new polling from Gallup and the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream.

The findings are part of ongoing Gallup research about perceptions of the American Dream. A survey conducted early this year found that most adults believe in the American Dream — defined by the possession of freedoms and individual rights, financial security, homeownership and upward mobility — but do not think everyone can achieve it.

Researchers noted that adults who are happiest with K-12 schools tended to be the most optimistic about the American Dream. Those respondents are also more likely to believe everyone can achieve the American Dream and the next generation will have more opportunities than the current one.

However, the majority of adults do not think American schools are doing a good enough job at preparing students for the workforce or providing young people with the opportunity to improve their circumstances or meet other priorities. The survey does not distinguish between types of K-12 schools.

These findings come as Americans’ satisfaction with K-12 education falls to a new low — just 32 percent of adults are happy with the country’s education options, according to a Gallup and Walton Family Foundation poll published earlier this month. However, people tend to like their own schools, the survey results show.

Fifty-eight percent of Americans said they have received a quality education; 57 percent said they have access to good schools for themselves and their families. Younger adults and parents also rated schools more positively than adults without children. “What’s probably going on is that people tend to rate more highly the thing that they know from first-hand knowledge,” Trulio said.

“So, ‘My school is probably better than the others and that’s because I know my school.’ I think that’s a natural tendency.” This pattern was also present in the springtime American Dream poll, researchers noted, where 69 percent of adults said they will attain the American Dream. Fewer than half said everyone has the opportunity to achieve it.