According to a recent annual education poll in the United States, the most important issues in public K-12 education are campus safety, student belonging, teacher shortages, and vocational and technical education, with over 97% of respondents ranking them as top priorities. Only 61% consider diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as important. The majority of people also believe that teacher salaries are too low, with overwhelming support for banning cell phones during class. Interestingly, support for using artificial intelligence to assist teachers and students has decreased compared to the previous year.
The survey, conducted by PDK International, aims to gauge the public’s perception of K-12 public education in the United States and has been conducted annually for 57 years since 1969.
Among the eight priority issues provided in the survey, ensuring safety measures for teachers and students garnered the highest level of agreement, with almost all respondents (over 99%) deeming it “very important” or “somewhat important”.
Increasing students’ sense of belonging to the school community received 98% agreement, while resolving teacher shortages and providing more vocational and technical education programs each received 97% support. Improving teacher salaries was also considered an important issue by over 92% of respondents.
Sense of belonging has gained widespread attention in recent years, especially following the challenges of distance learning and social isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some students returning to campus have faced heightened belonging issues, sparking concerns from various stakeholders.
Two other issues, educating students on the responsible use of artificial intelligence and social media and granting more control over education policies and funding to states and local school districts, also received overwhelming support, with 84% and 82% of respondents considering them important issues, respectively.
The least recognized issue was diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), with only 61% of respondents deeming it significant in school education. Breaking it down by political party affiliation, 89% of Democrats, 62% of Independents, and 22% of Republicans viewed DEI as an important issue.
According to a 2025 report from the National Education Association (NEA) on teacher salaries, the national average starting salary for new teachers is $46,526, with the average salary for all teachers at $72,030. Despite some states seeing record salary growth, the report highlighted that “teacher salaries over the past decade have not kept pace with inflation”.
The PDK survey shows that nearly two-thirds (64%) of Americans believe teacher salaries are insufficient. When looking at political affiliations, the majority of Democrats (73%) feel teacher salaries are too low, while only 39% of Republicans agree with that sentiment.
The U.S. Department of Education released guidelines in December 2024, requiring states to regulate and manage student cell phone usage in schools. Over 20 states, including California, New York, and Florida, have implemented varying degrees of policies to restrict cell phone use during school hours.
In the PDK survey, the vast majority of respondents (86%) supported banning cell phones in schools, with 40% in favor of a complete ban on cell phone usage across the entire campus, and 46% supporting a ban during class time while allowing phones during non-class activities like lunch or breaks. Only 11% of respondents opposed the phone ban.
Regarding the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching, the PDK survey revealed that 68% of parents do not support providing student data (such as grades, assessment data, or other personal information) to AI software.
Compared to the 2024 PDK survey on the same issues, Americans’ support for using AI in schools has declined in 2025.
For instance, support for teachers using AI to prepare lesson plans decreased from 62% in 2024 to 49% this year. Support for students using AI to help practice for standardized exams dropped from 64% in 2024 to 54% this year. And support for students using AI to assist with homework decreased from 43% in 2024 to 38% this year.
The PDK survey’s 2025 annual report was released on August 19th. The data included 1,005 adults, some of whom were parents, and was collected through telephone interviews across the United States from June 21st to 30th, 2025.