Public Opinion on the Family - Education

A 2001 Roper Center report, To the Test, includes a Gallup survey that asked what national issues were most important for the president and congress to address. Education topped the list, with 93% of respondents listing it as very important or extremely important. As recently as 1993, education ranked fifth on the survey list after health care, the economy, employment, and the federal budget deficit.

More than two-thirds of respondents stated that change was needed in public schools. When respondents were asked to identify the problems in schools, lack of parental involvement topped the list (78%). Undisciplined and disruptive students (73%), drugs and alcohol (69%), violence (64%), and overcrowded classrooms (61%) were identified as concerns by more than half of respondents. While 25% of respondents in another survey cited by the Roper study thought students should gain an academic background in high school, nearly half (48%) expected high school to instill discipline, morals, character, and responsibility.