WASHINGTON, D.C. — Ninety-two percent of Americans say obtaining a quality education is an important part of the American Dream, yet most give the nation’s K-12 schools low marks on several fundamental goals. Those with the most favorable ratings of schools across various dimensions are more optimistic than others about the future of the American Dream, even after accounting for other factors. They are also more likely to believe everyone has the opportunity to achieve the Dream and that the next generation will have more opportunities than they had.
These findings come from the second wave of the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD)-Gallup American Dream Study, a nationally representative web and mail survey of more than 6,300 U.S. adults, conducted Jan. 7-March 4, 2026. The survey is part of an ongoing collaboration between Gallup and MCAAD to study how Americans connect to the concept of the American Dream. The research is featured in the center's long-term exhibition, the American Dream Experience, in Washington, D.C.
Most Americans Value Education but Give K-12 Schools Low Marks
Education occupies a central place in Americans’ conception of the American Dream. Ninety-two percent say obtaining a quality education is a very important (61%) or somewhat important (31%) part of the Dream. The share of Americans who believe that obtaining a quality education is very important increased three percentage points since 2024 (58%).
Education and learning also ranks third among the areas Americans say the U.S. should prioritize over the next 50 years to help future generations have opportunities to achieve the Dream.
Additionally, large majorities consider each of the five surveyed K-12 goals to be very important, including teaching critical thinking, giving everyone the chance to improve their life circumstances, preparing people with the necessary skills to join the workforce, promoting personal growth and development, and helping people become informed and active citizens.
Yet the importance Americans place on education stands in contrast to their assessments of current K-12 school performance. When asked to rate K-12 schools generally, without distinguishing among school types, most Americans give schools fair or poor ratings across each of the five goals measured. Depending on the goal, 54% to 64% give a fair or poor rating, 20% to 27% give a good rating and 16% to 19% give an excellent or very good rating.
The contrast is sharpest for teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Eighty-eight percent of Americans consider this a very important goal, the highest of the five goals, while 17% rate K-12 schools as excellent or very good on this goal, a 71-point gap. Large gaps between the share calling each goal very important and the share rating performance as excellent or very good, ranging from 57 to 61 points, also appear for the other four surveyed goals.
These critical views of schools are consistent with Gallup’s broader research on education. In a 2026 Gallup survey, only 32% of Americans said they were satisfied with the quality of K-12 education in the U.S., the lowest level since Gallup began tracking the measure in 1999.
Personal Views of Education Are More Positive
Americans’ judgments of the education system as a whole are more negative than their assessments of their own educational circumstances. Most Americans (58%) say they have personally already obtained a quality education, and 57% say they currently have access to quality education for themselves and their family and expect that to continue in the future.
Views of school performance also vary by age, with younger adults giving schools more favorable ratings. For example, 25% of adults aged 18 to 29 rate schools as excellent or very good at teaching critical thinking and problem-solving, compared with 12% of adults aged 70 and older.
Having a more direct connection to the K-12 system is also associated with more favorable ratings. Twenty-six percent of adults who work in education give schools an excellent or very good rating on this goal, compared with 17% of adults who do not work in education. Among parents of children aged six to 18, 24% rate schools favorably on teaching critical thinking, compared with 15% of adults without children.
The age and parent patterns are consistent with findings from Gallup’s research with the Walton Family Foundation, which has found younger adults and parents of K-12 students to be more positive on several measures of school performance.
This mirrors a broader pattern found throughout this study and in Gallup’s historical research: Americans tend to be more positive when they have more direct or personal experience with an issue. The first article in this series found a similar gap between confidence in achieving the American Dream personally and belief that everyone has the opportunity to do so. Here, people with more direct or recent connections to K-12 schools tend to rate them more favorably.
Education level also matters. Adults with higher educational attainment place greater importance on teaching critical thinking but are less satisfied with how well schools perform that function. Ninety-five percent of postgraduates say teaching critical thinking is a very important goal, compared with 82% of those with a high school education or less. Yet just 11% of postgraduates rate schools as excellent or very good at teaching it, compared with 25% of those with a high school education or less.
Favorable School Ratings Accompany Greater Hope for the Dream
Gallup also computed a summary measure based on the five K-12 goals surveyed. Sixteen percent of Americans rated schools excellent or very good on at least three of the five goals, while the remaining 84% did not rate schools this highly.
Americans with the most favorable school ratings are more likely than other Americans to say they are optimistic about the future of the American Dream, 65% vs. 38%.
The same divide appears on the other forward-looking measures: Those rating schools favorably are also more likely to agree that everyone has the opportunity to achieve the Dream (61% vs. 43%) and that the next generation will have more opportunities than they have (68% vs. 40%).
The link between K-12 school ratings and optimism about the American Dream persists even after accounting for age, education, political party, financial circumstances, general optimism and other factors: Those with the most favorable ratings of K-12 schools have more than three times the odds of agreeing that they are optimistic about the Dream’s future (see Appendix).
Bottom Line
Education remains a widely valued source of opportunity in Americans’ conception of the American Dream, even as most give K-12 schools low ratings on the educational goals they consider most important.
Those assessments extend beyond education itself: Americans who rate K-12 schools more favorably are also more likely to be optimistic about the Dream’s future.
Taken together, the findings point to advancing excellence and innovation in K-12 education as a potential area of focus for widening access to the Dream.
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Download the appendix for more details on this study.
