Americans trust teachers, but some still want parents to be the primary voices on what's taught

Washington, DC, June 2, 2023 – The latest NPR/Ipsos polls – one among K-12 teachers and one among the general public, with an oversample of parents of school-aged kids – find that Americans generally trust teachers to make decisions about classroom curriculum, but they are divided on who should be primarily responsible for decisions on what is taught in public schools. For the most part, though, Americans oppose book bans and restrictions on discussions surrounding gender, sexuality, race, or racism in the classroom. In the wake of recent curriculum restrictions and book bans in some states, these NPR/Ipsos polls reveal that problems with teacher shortages in addition to overworked and underpaid educators largely overshadow politicized concerns over what is taught in K-12 schools. However, despite most K-12 teachers saying they believe the public’s perceptions of them have worsened in the past decade, the majority say they are happy they became a teacher in the first place.

For more information about these studies, please click here.

Key Findings:

1. While most Americans and parents of K-12 students agree that teachers are professionals who should be trusted to make decisions about classroom curriculum, they are largely split on who should be primarily responsible for decisions about what is taught. One thing is for certain, though, most K-12 parents do not think politicians should have the final say.

• Three-quarters of K-12 parents say they trust their child’s teacher to make decisions about classroom curriculum. This majority sentiment is consistent among K-12 parents across party lines, including 84% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and 74% of independents.
• Despite this overwhelming trust for teachers among K-12 parents, both the American public and K-12 parents alike are split on who they think should be primarily responsible for decisions on what is taught in public school. About three in ten Americans say teachers (30%) or parents (27%), and about a quarter (26%) say school boards. Among K-12 parents, 30% say teachers, 28% say parents, and 25% say school boards.
• On the other hand, K-12 teachers are less divided than parents over who should be primarily responsible for what is taught in public schools: 60% say teachers, 15% say school boards, and 10% say parents.
• When it comes to politicians, though, fewer than one in ten Americans and K-12 parents alike say federal legislators (8% and 7%, respectively) or state legislators (6% and 8%, respectively) should be primarily responsible for what is taught in public schools. A similar percentage of K-12 teachers say the same (7% for both state and federal legislators).

2. For the American public and K-12 teachers alike, teacher burnout and unfair payment are top of mind. An alarming percentage of K-12 parents and teachers report that their perceptions of both the quality of public education as well as working conditions for teachers have gotten worse in the past decade. However, most K-12 teachers still report being happy they became teachers in the first place.

• Nearly three-quarters of K-12 teachers (73%) say they believe that the public’s perceptions of teachers have worsened in the past decade. Meanwhile, only about half of Americans say the same.
• When asked in an open-ended format what words or short phrases come to mind when thinking about teachers, the overwhelming consensus—among the American public and K-12 teachers themselves—is that teachers are underpaid and overworked.
• About seven in ten Americans (69%) and four in five K-12 teachers (79%) disagree that public school teachers are paid fairly. Additionally, three-quarters of Americans (75%) and nine-tenths of K-12 teachers (93%) say that teachers are asked to do too much work for the pay they receive.
• That being said, 66% of K-12 parents say they would be worried about their child’s financial future if they wanted to be a teacher.
• Additionally, 42% of K-12 parents and 46% of K-12 teachers say the quality of public education in their area has gotten worse in the past decade. Forty-four percent and sixty-six percent, respectively, say that working conditions for teachers in their area have worsened in the past ten years, too.
• Despite all the reported challenges that K-12 teachers face in their classrooms today, the vast majority (80%) still say they are happy they became teachers in the first place.

3. The American public and K-12 parents oppose both individual school boards and state lawmakers implementing book bans or restricting what is discussed in the classroom. In fact, most Americans, regardless of party affiliation, say they support teaching about the history of slavery, racism, and segregation in public schools.

• Two-thirds of K-12 parents, and 69% of all Americans, say they oppose state lawmakers passing book bans. Roughly three in five K-12 parents (60%) and Americans (64%) say the same for individual school boards.
• Among the public as a whole, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to support banning certain books from classrooms and school libraries. Still, around half of Republicans are opposed to such bans: 52% oppose state lawmakers banning books, and a 46% plurality feel the same way about school boards doing it.
• About three in five (62%) K-12 parents and about two-thirds of Americans overall (67%) say they oppose state lawmakers restricting what subjects teachers and students discuss in the classroom. Another 56% of K-12 parents and 64% of Americans at-large say the same for individual school boards.
• Eighty-one percent of K-12 parents say they support teaching about the history of slavery, racism, and segregation in public schools. Regardless of party affiliation, the majority of Americans agree (79%), including 85% of Democrats, 78% of Republicans, and 78% of independents.

4. In their own communities, K-12 parents say that teacher shortages are far more common than book bans or restrictions on classroom discussions. These trends are consistent for Americans across urban, rural, and suburban areas nationwide.

• Over half (56%) of K-12 parents say their local community has recently experienced teacher shortages.
• In contrast, only about one in five say their local community has recently experienced book bans (19%) or restrictions on classroom discussions around gender, sexuality, race, or racism (17%).
• While just under half of Americans in urban (50%), rural (45%), and suburban (45%) areas report that they have recently experienced teacher shortages in their community, just under one-fifth of Americans from each area type say the same for recent book bans or restrictions on classroom discussions.

About the Studies

NPR/Ipsos Education Poll, General Public and K-12 Parents

These are the findings of an NPR/Ipsos poll conducted May 5-11, 2023, by Ipsos using our KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,316 general population adults aged 18 or older. The sample includes 452 parents of K-12 students.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, Census region, metropolitan status, and parent status. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2022 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS).

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50+)
• Race-Ethnicity (White/Non-Hispanic, Black/Non-Hispanic, Other/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races/Non-Hispanic)
• Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor or Higher)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West)
• Metropolitan Status (Metro, Non-Metro)
• Household Income (Under $25K, $25K-$49,999, $50K-$74,999, $75K-$99,999, $100K-$149,999, $150K and Over)
• Parent Status (Parent of 0-18 years old, Not parent of 0-18 years old)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.22. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. The margin of sampling error for parents of K-12 students is plus or minus 4.8 percent, with a design effect of 1.10. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

This topline includes trended data from one previous NPR/Ipsos poll. The previous poll was conducted from April 11^th to April 12^th, 2018, and it included a non-probability opt-in sample of 1,005 adults ages 18+. In the April 2018 poll, the credibility interval is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points for all respondents. More information about the April 2018 poll can be found here.

NPR/Ipsos Teachers Poll

These are the findings of an NPR/Ipsos poll conducted May 8-12, 2023, by Ipsos using our KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a representative probability sample of 510 K-12 teachers who are adults aged 18 or older.

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the largest and most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population.

The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, household income, Census region, and metropolitan status. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2021 American Community Survey.

• Gender (Male, Female)
• Age (18-29, 30-44, 45-59, 60+)
• Race/ethnicity (White, Non-Hispanic; Black, Non-Hispanic; Other/2+ races, Non-Hispanic; Hispanic)
• Education (Some college or lower, Bachelor or higher)
• Household Income (Under $25,000; $25,000-$49,999; $50,000-$74,999; $75,000-$99,999; $100,000-$149,999; $150,000 and over)
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
• Metropolitan Status (Metro, non-Metro)

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of K-12 teachers. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.34. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.

This topline includes trended data from two previous NPR/Ipsos polls. The first poll was conducted from April 6^th to April 12^th, 2018, and it included a non-probability opt-in sample of 504 teachers ages 18+. The second poll was conducted from March 21^st to March 25^th, 2019, and it included a non-probability opt-in sample of 505 teachers ages 18+. In the April 2018 poll, the credibility interval is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for all respondents. In the March 2019 poll, the credibility interval is plus or minus 5.0 percentage points for all respondents. More information about the April 2018 poll can be found here. More information about the March 2019 poll can be found here.

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