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Most People Don’t Want Their Children to Become Teachers, Poll Reveals

By Madeline Will — September 04, 2018 1 min read
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A growing number of people don’t want their children going into teaching, a new national survey finds.

The PDK International poll on education, released last week, surveyed a nationwide random sample of 1,042 adults, including an oversampling of 515 parents of school-age children.

Most respondents, 61 percent, said they have trust and confidence in public school teachers, up from 51 percent in 2015. But just over half said they would not want their child to become a teacher. That’s an 11 percentage-point increase from the last time that question was asked in 2014. They cited inadequate pay and benefits, student behavior and a lack of discipline, and the public view that teaching was a thankless job that isn’t respected or valued in society.

A version of this article appeared in the September 05, 2018 edition of Education Week as Most People Don’t Want Their Children to Become Teachers, Poll Reveals

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