Most North Carolina adults wouldn't give most of the state's schools an A or B, and less than half would encourage their children to become teachers, according to a wide-ranging Elon University education poll released Wednesday. They also asked about who’s to blame for poor school performance and the role artificial intelligence should play in schools.
The poll was designed to gather North Carolinians' opinions about education as the Trump administration is making major changes and reductions to federal oversight of education.
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"If the Department of Education closes, or at least reduces its footprint, we know that there's going to be a bigger onus on state and local governments to pick that up, pick that work up on education. So we've wanted to [do] a deep dive into what people in North Carolina think about schools. What do they want to see the future of schools to be? What do they want to see taught in the classroom? And importantly, how well do they think that governance works when it comes to education in the state?"Jason Husser, Director of the Elon University poll and professor of political science
The poll covers responses from about 800 North Carolina adults — making up a representative sample of voters and nonvoters in the state — from Nov. 19 through Dec. 1 via an online survey.
About one-quarter of respondents said they would give the state’s traditional public schools a D or an F grade. About half would give private schools an A or a B, though far less than half of students attend one. About one-quarter to one-third of respondents said they weren’t sure how to grade private schools, charter schools or home schools.
The poll results highlight some areas in which opinions differ based on whether one has current experience in something, Husser said.
Parents of children younger than 18 had a higher opinion of all types of schools than adults who aren't parents of children that age. About half of parents of children younger than 18 — 48% — would grade the public schools in their area with an A or B and 29% would give them a C, compared to 44% and 24% for other adults.
"Parents overall seem sort of mixed, but generally leaning towards fairly happy with their local schools," Husser said. "But overall, people are negative about public schools as a whole."
That touches on national polling that has consistently found that people have a low — and decreasing — opinion of public schools generally, but have a high opinion of their own child's public school.
“People can be quite negative," Husser said. "But when it comes to the thing that they interact with the most, they can be very positive."
‘Not about one teacher’
When schools perform poorly, respondents weren't likely to blame teachers or principals. Rather, the two main groups blamed are the state government and local school boards — organizations that just less than half of respondents said deserved a lot of the blame.
About three-fifths blamed a lack of resources, as well, and about half blamed a lack of parental involvement.
"The explanation is probably rooted in that people are saying that it's not just a single school underperforming," Husser said. "Oftentimes we're seeing whole districts having challenges. That usually reflects it's not about one teacher or one principal. It's a broader, more systemic issue going on."
Most respondents didn’t know which branch of government provides the largest share of K-12 funding, but a plurality correctly identified the state as the branch that does.
Still, it's common for people to lay blame at bureaucracies in charge, Husser said. And North Carolina's education system may seem complicated to some people.
Most adults who responded to the survey didn't know the state superintendent of public instruction was elected, though most also believe the position should be elected.
"It's not surprising that people don't want to give up their ability to vote on things, even if they're not exactly sure of it, and I attribute that largely to low levels of trust in government" at all levels, Husser said.
Only about half of the respondents knew that their local school board members were elected by local voters. Others weren't sure or thought they were appointed.
"They weren't really sure about how the really critical decision-making layers get in place," Husser said. "To me, that probably suggests that we have a structure that is more complicated in the state. We do have a system that has multiple different elected officials, multiple appointed officials, all needing to work together for outcomes, first for our students."
That confusion isn't surprising and may exist in other areas of government, such as environmental regulation or tax policy, Husser said. Fragmented government is common in North Carolina and more so than in other states, he said.
Most respondents also didn't know the differences between private, traditional public and charter schools.
Most didn't know that charter schools are public schools, and most didn't know the extent to which charter schools and private schools that receive public voucher funds are subject to the same testing and reporting requirements as traditional public schools in North Carolina, according to the poll. (Charter schools are subject to largely subject to the same requirements, but private schools that receive public dollars for vouchers are not.)
On teachers
A large majority of respondents favored more investment in scholarship programs for future teachers, but less than half said they would encourage their child or a close family member to become a teacher in North Carolina. That was after they were asked to consider the potential challenges and rewards of teaching.
Declining interest in the teaching profession among college students has contributed to a shortage of teachers in some areas and an increased recruitment of people working in other professions to become teachers.
Separately, respondents largely believe teachers are underpaid, while they also underestimate average pay.
The median guess was about $40,000 per year. In reality, the median teacher pay is about $58,000, according to the latest National Education Association report.
North Carolina teachers are paid less than most others nationally, though the pay can vary greatly depending on the school district.
Slightly less than half of the respondents said they thought teachers were treated with respect.
On artificial intelligence in schools
Most respondents — 59% — believe artificial intelligence, including its benefits and risks, should be taught in schools, compared with 20% who don't and 21% who aren't sure.
But most respondents — 63% — want students' use of AI to be limited and not encouraged.
"They were quite hesitant when it came to putting AI too deeply into the classroom," Husser said. "Many people thought they should limit the use of AI tools so that students develop learning on their own and not become dependent upon these new technologies."
On curriculum
A large majority of North Carolina adults believe it's important for students to learn human-centered skills, such as communication; writing and composition; U.S. history; financial literacy and money management; nutrition, health and wellness; and basic scientific concepts and reasoning.
Large majorities favored other subjects, too, though less strongly: household management and practical maintenance, literature and the arts, and spiritual or moral values and ideas.
"The highest scoring items tended to be those that were very human items," Husser said. "So people wanted to see a lot of emphasis placed on writing and composition, and they also wanted to see emphasis placed on human-centered skills like communication. To me, that is further affirmation of people’s skepticism about AI as being a place to supplant what humans can do in the classroom."
On college degrees
Most North Carolina adults think a college degree will be valuable, with 43% saying a college degree would be "somewhat valuable" to the typical student and 30% saying a college degree would be "very valuable."
That's because the cost of college continues to rise and enrollment stagnates or drops across North Carolina and the nation.
Husser believes the response could have been different had it been phrased in the context of the cost of college.
On whether they approve of the work Trump, Stein are doing
The poll also asked respondents for their opinion on the performance of the nation and the state's top executives.
About half of them — 51% — said they didn’t approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president of the United States. About 35% said they approved of it, and 14% said they weren't sure.
About 44% said they approved of the job Josh Stein is doing as governor of North Carolina, and 22% disapproved. About 34% weren't sure.