PDK Poll Shows Overall Improvement

JASON ZHU

EDITOR IN CHIEF

Phi Delta Kappa (PDK), a professional association for educators, recently conducted the 48th annual PDK poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. The poll results, reveal that Americans do not agree on the overall purpose of education.

45 percent of the Americans surveyed claimed that the purpose of education is to prepare students academically. The rest of the surveyed population splits between believing that the central goal of public school education is to prepare students for work and to help them become good citizens.

One reason that many Americans believe that education is for work-readiness could be because of economic uncertainty. The same poll produced a result in which states that approximately seven out of 10 surveyed Americans want their local public schools to focus more on career-technical or skills-based classes. Technical skills, according to most of the surveyees’, are essential to the students future in terms of making a living.

 “There’s a real question today about education’s return on investment.” Joshua P. Starr, CEO of PDK International said, “While we know that a college degree is essential in today’s economy, parents and the public want to see a clearer connection between the public school system and the world of work.”

 PDK believes that the poll results will offer policy makers some insight, because the split in the opinions on the purpose of school indicates that the previous efforts on addressing the American public education have not been completely successful nor satisfying to the public.