Giving Compass' Take:

According to the 2018 EdChoice Schooling in America Survey, teachers are not enthused with their profession, and most do not trust their union leadership or district superintendent. 

• What are the underlying causes for the results of this poll? How can education philanthropists help support and empower teachers? 

• Read about how to create a culture where teachers lead innovation. 


American teachers are less enthused about their jobs than are local politicians or active-duty military personnel, according to the 2018 EdChoice Schooling in America Survey. After a year that saw educators revolt over low pay and teachers unions seriously weakened by a landmark Supreme Court decision, the survey also found the profession disillusioned with parents and school boards.

This is the sixth edition of the annual poll, which measures public attitudes on schooling options, school quality, and state and federal education policy.

The poll’s 2018 iteration is the first to include the voices of teachers. Survey administrators conducted online interviews with 777 traditional public school teachers (i.e., active instructors working exclusively in district schools, not charters) about their feelings toward the job, this year’s wave of mass walkouts, and their level of trust in key figures in public schooling.

The results were bracing. Overall, teachers were unlikely to recommend teaching as a profession.

Additionally, few teachers said they placed much trust in education stakeholders outside their building. While a majority of teachers said they had “complete” or “a lot of” trust in their principal (57 percent) or their students (52 percent), less than half said the same of their union leadership (46 percent) or their district superintendent (41 percent).

Read the full article about teachers would not recommend the teaching profession by Kevin Mahnken at The 74