Poll gives low marks to U.S. schools

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WASHINGTON, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A huge discrepancy exists between how all Americans view public schools and what the parents of U.S. schoolchildren think, a new poll indicates.

The 2010 Gallup Poll on the public's view of schools found that 77 percent of parents give their children's school an "A" or "B" grade while only 18 percent of all Americans see them doing that well.

Gallup said this year's parental results included more "B" grades compared to 1985 when 71 percent of parents handed schools an "A" or "B" for their performance.

Twenty-five years ago, 58 percent of respondents gave public education a grade of "C" or lower compared to 79 percent in this year's polling.

The poll of 1,008 adults aged 18 and older was conducted by telephone June 4-28. It carries of margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Gallup conducts the poll each year with Phi Delta Kappa, a professional association for educators.