Polls dealing with American public education conducted since 1936 are examined, and over 60 items were chosen to illustrate: (1) changes in public opinion since 1960 that might have altered students' evaluations of college attendance or academic excellence, and (2) changes prior to 1960 that might have affected the quality of preparation for college and might have contributed to the decline in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. All levels of schooling were criticized during the late 1950's, with increasing satisfaction during the 1960's, and a renewed dissatisfaction at the end of the sixties. It would probably be impossible to reconstruct opinion changes between 1950 and 1970 in sufficient detail to relate them to changes in SAT scores. A significant drop in the public's rating of the schools was recorded between 1974 and 1975, but this decline leveled off between 1975 and 1976. However, the public believes that the recent decline in national test scores means that the quality of education is declining; it would like more attention paid to basic skills and to discipline in the schools in order to counteract the perceived decline of quality in the schools. The public is generally inclined, however, to blame the parents rather than the schools. (Author/EVH)