Poll: Confidence in public schools down

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PRINCETON, N.J., June 20 (UPI) -- Confidence in U.S public schools is down 5 percentage points from 2011, with 29 percent saying they had quite a lot of confidence in them, Gallup said.

The 29 percent is a new low in public school confidence, down from 33 percent measured in Gallup's 2007 and 2008 Confidence in Institutions polls, the Princeton, N.J., polling agency said Wednesday.

The latest poll indicated Americans are most confident in the military, 75 percent, which has been the top-ranked institution every year since 1989 except 1997 when small business edged it out. At 63 percent, small business was second this year, followed by the police at 56 percent.

Gallup has asked Americans to say how much confidence they have in a number of of U.S. institutions since 1973, including annually since 1993.

This year's Confidence in Institutions survey also found record lows in the church or organized religion, 44 percent; banks, 21 percent; and television news, 21 percent.

Gallup said confidence in most of the 16 institutions in this year's poll generally is below their historical averages, likely reflecting Americans' overall dissatisfaction with current conditions in the United States.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 1,004 adults conducted June 7-10. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.