Teachers' Polls>
The Second Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools
By Stanley M. Elam

STANLEY M. ELAM (Indiana University Chapter) is contributing editor of the Phi Delta Kappan. He was Kappan editor from 1956 through 1980 and has been coordinating Phi Delta Kappa's polling program since his retirement.

The portrait of a profession that emerges from the second Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa survey of the attitudes of U.S. teachers toward the public schools is not a pretty sight. Teachers tend to regard themselves as martyrs. Overwhelmingly, they believe that they are unappreciated and underrewarded, and they blame almost everyone but themselves for recognized school problems. (Parents and students are particularly targeted.) Teachers give themselves and their own schools rather good grades, but they grade their administrators and their own teacher training less favorably.

A two-thirds majority of teachers opposes the idea of merit pay; even the few who support it do so not because merit pay might improve student achievement, but because "good teachers would be rewarded." Yet the vast majority of laypersons (84%) likes the idea of merit pay for teachers. Clearly, there is a problem here.

An overwhelming 82% of teachers believe that they are underpaid, whereas only 37% of the general public believe that teachers are underpaid. Thus the problem is compounded.

Although many critics believe that the shorter school year in the U.S. accounts for much of the achievement deficit of American children compared with those of other industrialized nations, 63% of the teachers surveyed oppose an extended school year, regardless of salary considerations.

A majority of teachers would like to have the right to paddle misbehaving youngsters, despite outright bans on corporal punishment in many states and school districts.

And, more often than members of the general public, teachers say that they would not like to see their own sons and daughters take up teaching as a career.

Nowhere is the martyr sundrome among teachers more apparent than in the ratings they give to 12 different occupations on scales measuring their value to society and their prestige. Teachers see their own services as more valuable than those of all 11 other occupations that they rated, including medicine, the clergy, and the bench. At the same time, teachers place their prestige at the bottom of the totem pole, below even funeral directors, realtors, and advertising practitioners. The gap that teachers perceive between the value of their services and their prestige is three times as great as the similar gap for physicians, members of the clergy, and public school principals.

Teachers don't think that they have the authority they need. They are convinced that they do not have enough control over such vital aspects of instruction as setting discipline policies for their schools, establishing grading policies, and determining academic standards.

Predictably, teachers do not generally believe that, after five years of "school reform," public schools in their communities have improved. Thirty-six percent say that schools have improved, 38% think that they have remained about the same, and 25% think that they have gotten worse.

I do not contend that teachers feel put upon for no reason. They have many reasons to be dissatisfied. And the fact that so many of them are disgruntled is sufficient reason to reconsider some approaches to the improvement of U.S. public education that have become popular in recent years.

In the pages that follow, I present details of the findings of the new Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa survey that support these observations, along with answers to a number of questions that reveal teacher attitudes on other professional issues of the day. In most instances, it is possible to compare current attitudes with those of teachers who responded to the first Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa teacher survey, conducted in 1984.* In several cases, teachers' attitudes can also be compared with current attitudes of the general public.

I should point out that, because of the high turnover in America's public school teaching force, perhaps no more than half of the men and women teaching in the public schools today were teaching in 1984, when the first survey was made.** Thus we are comparing opinions of two quite different groups of teachers; nonetheless, the issues remain the same. Interestingly, significant shifts of opinion between teachers in 1984 and teachers today were relatively rare. Where they occurred, I have noted the fact.

*See Alec Gallup, "The Gallup Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools," Phi Delta Kappan, October 1984, pp. 97-107; and idem, "The Gallup Poll of Teachers' Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Part 2," Phi Delta Kappan, January 1985, pp. 323-30.

**According to the Research Division of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the median length of service for U.S. teachers is now about eight years. Forty percent of beginning teachers drop out within five years, the AFT says.

Most Important Problems Facing Local Public Schools

As in 1984, the most frequently mentioned problem -- named by 34% of all teachers in 1989 -- is parents' lack of interest and support. The respondents articulated this problem in a variety of ways. Some said that they have "no backing from parents on discipline." Others charged that "parents don't help students realize the importance of preparing for the future." Some pointed to "parental apathy," while others said that "parents lack faith in the school system." Elementary teachers were somewhat more likely than secondary teachers (39% to 25%) to mention lack of parental interest and support.

Lack of proper financial support was the second most frequently mentioned problem, both in 1984 and in 1989. Many teachers recognize how closely the lack of financial support is related to other school problems. As one put it, "We don't have enough money, which is why we have few first-rate teachers, which is why we have poor parental support and student respect, which is why we don't have enough money. It's a vicious circle."

In the last three Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa polls of the public's attitudes toward the public schools, drug abuse has replaced poor discipline as the most frequently cited problem. Since 1984 there has also been an increase in the frequency with which teachers mention this problem. But it is not one of the first problems that teachers think to mention. In fact, it was mentioned first by only 15 elementary teachers and 14 secondary teachers out of 830 respondents: 472 (57.2%) identified as elementary teachers, 270 (32.7%) identified as secondary teachers, and 35 (4.2%) identified as both. (Forty-eight respondents classified themselves as "other," and five didn't complete this item.)

The question:

What do you think are the biggest problems with which the public schools in this community must deal?

The Discipline Problem

Four questions in the current poll examined teachers' views on student discipline, which in all but one survey until 1986 was most often mentioned by the general public as a serious problem for the public schools. The table below shows that only about half of all teacher respondents view discipline as either a very serious or a fairly serious problem.

The first question:

How serious a problem would you say discipline is in the public schools in your community -- very serious, fairly serious, not too serious, or not at all serious?

Respondents were asked to estimate the frequency of 18 different kinds of student disciplinary or behavior problems that are commonly reported. Here again, teacher perceptions in both the 1984 and 1989 polls differ markedly from those of the general public, as expressed in the 1984 public poll. In the following table, note the disparities in almost every category; the public appears to exaggerate the student disciplinary problem, if teacher perceptions are correct. One notable exception: teachers are much more aware than the public that schoolwork and homework are often not completed.

The second question:

About how often do each of the problems listed occur at the school in which you teach?

By a margin of 56% to 38%, teachers approve of spanking and other forms of physical punishment as a last resort. This margin is somewhat greater than that found for the U.S. public in 1988 (50% for, 45% against). It would be instructive to know just when teachers would resort to corporal punishment to modify behavior -- but, as is often the case in polls of this kind, the follow-up question was not asked.

The third question:

Spanking and similar forms of physical punishment are permitted in the lower grades of some schools for children who do not respond to other forms of discipline. Do you approve of this practice?

Because the drug problem has been so prominent in the minds of respondents to the last three Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa polls of public attitudes toward the public schools, teachers were asked for their opinion on this issue.

The fourth question:

How serious a problem would you say drug abuse is among students in the public schools of your community?

Grading the Public Schools

As in 1984, teachers in the current survey give the public schools in their own communities high marks. Using the traditional academic grading system, two-thirds of America's teachers (66%) give their schools grades of A or B; only 4% give a D, and less than 1% give an F. They give the schools in which they teach somewhat higher grades than other schools in the community. Although these grades contrast with those given by the general public in 1988 (when 40% gave the schools a grade of A or B), they are no higher than the grades the typical layperson gives the school that his or her oldest child attends.

The question:

Students are often given the grades A, B, C, D, and FAIL to denote the quality of their work. Suppose the public schools themselves, in this community, were graded in the same way. What grade would you give the public schools here -- A, B, C, D, or FAIL? How about the public school in which you teach?

Five Other Ratings

U.S. teachers are even more positive about the performance of teachers than they are about the performance of the schools, with 83% awarding teachers grades of A or B in the current poll. This highly favorable rating does not carry over to the performance of administrators and school boards. However, 57% of teachers give the training they received in college a grade of A or B. The lowest grades of all go to parents for the way they bring up their children.

The question:

What grade would you give the teachers in the local public schools? The administrators in the local public schools? [The local school board?] The parents of students in the local public schools for bringing up their children? The teacher training you received in college?

Teachers and Teaching

A number of questions in the 1989 survey asked teachers how they feel about their profession, including such controversial topics as merit pay, why teachers leave the profession, and who should control various aspects of the educational process.

Attracting and Retaining Good Teachers

In 1984 more than one-third (37%) of U.S. teachers reported that their schools were having difficulty in getting good teachers for their schools, and about one-half (48%) said that their schools were having difficulty in keeping good teachers. Figures for 1989 tell a different story. Apparently, teachers today believe that the shortage of good teachers has been considerably relieved.

The first question:

Does the school in which you teach have difficulty in getting good teachers?

The second question:

Does the school in which you teach have difficulty in keeping good teachers?

Salary Levels

Reflecting a real though small increase in the average salaries of teachers since the current reform movement began in the early Eighties, the respondents to the current poll show somewhat less dissatisfaction with their salaries than did 1984 respondents. In that year, nine out of 10 teachers said that their salaries were too low; today, about eight out of 10 say so.

Still, every segment of the 1989 sample registered strong dissatisfaction. Of those whose annual teaching incomes are below $25,000, 85% said that salaries are too low; the comparable figure for teachers with incomes above $25,000 is 78%. Eighty-four percent of male respondents (who made up 35% of the sample) said that salaries are too low; the comparable figure for females is 80%. Of those under age 30, 71% said that salaries are too low; of those over age 30, 80% said so. By region, 72% of respondents in the Northeast said that salaries are too low; 78% of respondents in the Midwest, 91% of respondents in the South, and 77% of respondents in the West agreed.

Asked to report their annual income from teaching, 80% of teachers in the current survey said that their income falls in the $20,000 to $40,000 range, with a median of about $30,000. Interestingly, 4% reported salaries of $45,000 or more, suggesting that the financial opportunities for teachers are better than many people realize.

The question:

Do you think salaries for teachers in this community are too high, too low, or just about right?

Why Teachers Leave the Profession

To identify reasons why teachers think that their colleagues are leaving the profession and, implicitly, why it is difficult to attract good people to the profession, respondents were given a list of frequently mentioned reasons and asked to select three that they consider the main reasons for teachers' leaving the field.

Predictably, by far the most frequently mentioned reason was low salaries, chosen by 77% of respondents in 1989 (and by 87% of respondents in 1984). Significantly, "lack of public financial support for education" was chosen much more frequently in 1989 than in 1984: 69% versus 26%. Other figures for the two polls show changes in teachers' opinions over time, but none are as large as this one.

In 1982 the public poll asked the same question. The public attached far less importance than teachers do to salaries and far more importance to discipline problems as reasons why teachers leave teaching.

The question:

Many public school teachers are leaving the classroom. Here are some reasons that are sometimes given. Which three of these do you think are the main reasons why teachers are leaving their jobs?

Higher Salaries in Certain Subject Areas

Shortages of qualified teachers in science, in mathematics, and in vocational and technical subjects continue to be a problem because opportunities for people with skills in these areas command better salaries in business and industry. However, in 1989 as in 1984, teachers oppose paying higher salaries to those who teach in these areas. The public was about evenly divided on the issue in 1984.

The question:

Today there is a shortage of teachers in science, math, technical subjects, and vocational subjects. If your local schools needed teachers in these subjects, would you favor or oppose paying them higher wages than teachers of other subjects?

Merit Pay

In 1989 U.S. teachers oppose the idea of merit pay for their services by the same 2-1 margin as teachers did in the 1984 survey. This ratio holds for every important segment of the teacher population. It is, of course, in direct opposition to public sentiment as expressed in several public polls, including the 1988 Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll of the public's attitudes toward the public schools.

The question:

How do you, yourself, feel about the idea of merit pay for teachers? In general, do you favor or oppose it?

Reasons for Favoring/Opposing Merit Pay

Teachers oppose merit pay for two basic reasons: 1) the difficulty of obtaining fair evaluations of merit and 2) the morale problems that different pay for the same job might cause. Among the one-third of teachers who favor merit pay, the main reason given was that good teachers would be rewarded for their greater effectiveness.

The question:

Why do you favor/oppose merit pay for teachers?

Who Should Determine Which Teachers Receive Merit Pay?

Not surprisingly, teachers tend to think that a committee of teachers should determine who receives merit pay, if the idea should be adopted over their opposition. But in both the 1984 and 1989 surveys, a sizable number said that the principal should make these decisions.

The question:

Suppose that your own school were to adopt the merit pay plan. Who, in your opinion, should determine which teachers should be given merit increases?

What Percentage of Teachers Deserve Merit Pay?

 In the 1989 survey, 34% of the respondents who favor merit pay said that half or more of all teachers in the public schools deserve merit pay. Another 39% said that between 20% and 50% of all teachers deserve merit pay.

The question:

What percentage of teachers in the public schools deserve merit pay? (Asked of those who favor the idea.)

A State Board Examination for Teachers

State board examinations for teachers are among the current reforms that have been well received in state legislatures. And a majority of U.S. teachers accepts this form of accountability. About the same percentage of teachers who approved the idea in 1984 did so in the 1989 survey. The proposal seems to be slightly more attractive to secondary teachers than to elementary teachers. The general public was highly favorable to such examinations in 1984.

The question:

In addition to meeting college requirements for a teacher's certificate, should those who want to become teachers also be required to pass a state board examination to prove their knowledge in the subjects they will teach, before they are hired?