Nearly Half of Californians Think K-12 Education Has Worsened, Poll Finds

Most said children in their local public schools fell behind academically during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A language immersion teacher, left, checks her students' work during a second-grade class at Broadway Elementary School in Venice, California on Jan. 31, 2013. Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

A recent survey of Californians revealed that nearly half of respondents think the state’s K-12 public schools have gotten worse.

Nonpartisan research group Public Policy Institute of California surveyed more than 1,000 Californians on education from March 19 through March 25. According to its findings, 47 percent of those surveyed think the quality of education in the state’s K-12 public schools has gotten worse in the last few years.