Teachers pessimistic about future of education, but many support school choice, survey reveals

K-12 educators have a bleak outlook on the teaching profession, social media use and other aspects of education, a new survey revealed.

A new Ed Choice poll, which gathered opinions from over 1,000 educators between 2023 and 2024, found teachers were highly pessimistic about the direction of K-12 education. Just 39% have faith in their local district, and even fewer feel optimistic about education statewide (26%) or nationwide (19%).

On average, private school teachers are slightly more hopeful than public school teachers.

The survey also found educators aren’t fully informed about government education funding. Most (75%) said they thought public school funding was too low. However, when informed about the average per-pupil expenditure in their state, that number dropped to 56%.

But perhaps the most dismal statistic is educators’ view on their students’ development.

Very few see their students progressing academically (20%), emotionally (14%) or socially (17%) during the current school year.  

Educators don’t seem to have much confidence in their administrations, either.  

Compared to parents, teachers have a much dimmer view of how their school handles mental health issues and other behavioral and safety concerns. But again, private school teachers reported being much happier in comparison.

Half of public-school teachers and 27% of private educators also report an increase in student misbehavior from previous years. 

While teachers have always had to deal with rambunctious students, the situation seems to have been made worse by the widespread use of phones and social media. Indeed, educators have firmly negative views about the effects of social media on relationships, academics and mental health.  

Unfortunately, even the youngest students are susceptible to social media distractions.  

Nearly half (49%) of K-4 teachers report their students being on social media extremely or very often. The rates are even higher for 5th-8th grade (77%) and high school (87%).  

Given these results, it may be unsurprising that only about 15% of educators would highly recommend the teaching profession to others, and 46% report considering leaving the profession in the past three months. 

The survey’s silver lining is that many teachers support school choice, especially when given a description. Nearly 70% of teachers express support for Education Savings Accounts (ESAs), 50% for charter schools, and 63% for open-enrollment policies.