Poll: Teacher pay too low

Compared to a 2008 survey, perception of the quality of education in both the country as a whole and Americans’ local areas is holding steady, but it is overall not considered excellent or very good, according to The Harris Poll.

Harris conducted its online survey of 2,681 U.S. adults between May 11-18.

According to Harris, the results indicate most Americans say public schools overall fall to the bottom of the list when it comes to the quality of education they provide. Just 17% say public schools for grades K-6 provide excellent or very good education while 15% say the same about public schools for grades 7-12. This is up slightly from last year when 15% said public schools grades K-6 provided excellent or very good education and 13% said the same about public school for grades 7-12.

Other survey results include:
• When it comes to local public schools, those do a little better as one in five U.S. adults say both grades K-6 and 7-12 are providing an excellent or very good quality of education (21% and 20% respectively). This is almost unchanged from 2008.

• Private, church related schools are considered the best, whether it is in the U.S. as a whole (36% saying excellent/very good for both grades K-6 and grades 7-12) or their local schools (32% saying excellent/very good for both K-6 and 7-12).

• In 2008, three in five U.S. adults (59%) believed that teachers are paid too little while one-quarter (24%) said they are paid about the right amount and 6% said teachers are paid too much. One year and an economic recession later, 53% say teachers are paid too little, three in ten (29%) say they are paid about the right amount and 8% say they are paid too much.

• Last year almost three in five (57%) said too little money is being spent on public schools in their community while one in five (20%) said it’s about the right amount and 13 percent said too much. This year, half (51%) of Americans say there is too little money being spent in their community while one-quarter (26%) say it is the right amount and 14% say it is too much.

Regionally, there are large differences in attitudes toward teachers’ pay and school funding.
• Those in the East are more likely to think teachers are paid too much (17%) or about the right amount (39%) and too much money is being spent on public schools in their community (22%).
• Those in the South, however, are more likely to think teachers are paid too little (68%) and there is too little money being spent on public schools in their community (60%).