What are biggest challenges facing Detroit public schools? Here’s what voters said

DETROIT – What are the biggest challenges for Detroit public schools, and which are the most important to address?

Those were among the questions we asked in a poll of likely voters from May 27-29. You can see the results below.

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Biggest challenges for Detroit schools

Participants were asked, “What do you think is the biggest challenge facing the Detroit public schools right now?”

The most common response was a lack of funding and resources, which received 21.9% of the vote.

You can see the various other responses in the graphics below.

Most important for improvement

Participants were read a list of items and asked to choose which one would be most important to improving Detroit public schools right now.

The most common responses included parent involvement, higher pay for teachers, funding for basic supplies, and improving teacher quality of life.

You can see the full results below.

Additional responses:

• Miscellaneous -- 1.3%
• Getting rid of charters/vouches -- 0.8%
• School security -- 0.8%
• Smaller class sizes -- 0.8%
• More funding -- 0.6%

Poll methodology

WDIV and the Detroit News commissioned a survey of likely August 2025 primary election voters within the city of Detroit. The poll was conducted y The Glengariff Group, Inc.

It was a 500 sample, live operator telephone survey from May 27-29, 2025.

The margin of error is +/- 4%, and there is a 95% level of confidence.

Of the respondents, 10.4% were called via landline telephone, and 89.6% were called on a cellphone.