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poll results

March 24, 2009

Sinking public approval for mayor’s school efforts, chancellor

by Philissa Cramer, at 3:28 pm

Public support for Bloomberg’s school control is at its lowest point since 2003, and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s approval rating has also taken a hit, according to poll results released today.

picture-6After a month packed with contentious public hearings about Klein’s tenure as chancellor, his approval rating dropped 7 points, to 37 percent, according to a new poll out of Quinnipiac University. His approval rating is lowest among blacks, Hispanics, residents of the Bronx, and women. It’s also just four points higher than his all-time low, posted two years ago just after mid-year school bus route changes frustrated parents citywide.

Approval for how Mayor Bloomberg is handling the public schools has also dropped, to 47 percent from 50 percent a month ago, giving him the lowest approval rating on his education efforts since May 2003. Just 46 percent of New Yorkers said they thought the mayor’s takeover of the public schools has been a success. Public school parents rated the mayor the worst: Just 41 percent of them said they approved of the job he’s doing, and 54 percent said they disapproved.

The poll indicates that the public still supports the idea of mayoral control. A majority, 52 percent, said the school governance structure should continue after June 30, when the law creating it is set to expire. That figure reflects a 4-point drop since Quinnipiac began polling on the subject in January. The poll’s margin of error is about 3 points.

For the first time, the poll asked respondents about specific power-sharing arrangements that state legislators might put in place for the city schools. The City Council should share control with the mayor, said 53 percent of respondents, with much a higher proportion, two-thirds, of Bronx residents agreeing. Half of those surveyed said the mayor should share power with the borough presidents, something that no major school governance proposal has suggested.

I’ve asked the Department of Education’s press office for its take on the new poll results. I’ll add the DOE’s response when I get it.

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  • http://www.classsizematters.org leonie haimson

    Correction: this is not the first time that voters were by Quinnipiac asked about “specific power-sharing arrangements.”

    For at least two years, Quinnipiac asked voters if the Mayor should share his power over schools w/ an independent board — and this was by far the most popular choice among respondent.

    Then in the last Q poll, they inexplicably dropped that question, and only asked people if they were for or against Mayoral control.

    We asked why, and they said “independent” was too biased a word. Hmm….

  • April Humpbhrey, Campaign for Better Schools

    I think this poll pokes through the Mayor/Chancellor/DOE/Learn NY rhetoric that any changes will fundamentally undermine mayoral control. The public clearly want checks and balances on the mayor’s power over schools by a wide margin. While the Legislature may not consider giving direct approval power over educational policies to the city council or borough presidents, they could do this through appointees. Currently the borough presidents all have one appointee each. The thing that’s clear from this poll is that, whoever does the appointing, whether it be city council or borough presidents, those appointees need to have the independence to disagree with the mayor and chancellor and to vote that way when they believe it is in the best interests of the children. Can one man always be right? It looks like the public is saying, “No!”

  • Anne Keegan

    We are now accountable for studying our children through assessment and instruction and evaluating how we modify and vary our curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of each and every student, not just the children who learn from the implementation of “best” instructional practices alone. As principal of P.S. 209, I have the power to choose what is “best” for my school in consultation with my school community. I am proud to say that because of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein’s commitment to our children, my staff and I do whatever it takes to ensure student success, not whatever we are told. Having the freedom to make smart choices based on student data, not politics is the main reason why mayoral control works.

  • Mr. R

    I would like to know if Ms. Keegan is a product of the Leadership Academy. I’m betting she is. That Academy is the worst thing that ever happened to the city schools. The majority of these “professionals” have never been in a classroom longer than 3 years. They have no idea how to talk to people and try to ram their wisdom (i use that term as loosely as possible) down everyone’s throats. Hmmmm, sounds like our mayor and chancellor doesn’t it?

  • Mr. R

    This is such a sham. I would also like to point out that the data that Ms. Keegan so lovingly speaks of can be manipulated in so many ways. I have students who can barely read scoring a level 3 on the state exams. What a crock of BS that is. Our job is not to produce testing robots so that our principals can earn their performance bonuses. It is principals that value this so-called “vital” data that miss out on the point of an education. We are supposed to encourage our students to be well-rounded, productive citizens. Not, as Mayor Doomsburg and Klein would like everyone to believe, test-taking machines who are losing the values that school is supposed to provide. I wonder if Ms. Keegan would send her kids to her own school. No sports, no arts, no music…just make sure they can pass the test and I can get my bonus. PATHETIC!!!!!!!

  • Mr. R

    Never mind my agitation, P.S. 209 is an elementary school with 242 students. I work in a middle school with over 1700. The pie is obviously not cut the same.

  • http://www.sinksalive.blogspot.com KitchenSink

    It sounds like Mr. R needs to find a smaller work environment with a little less chaos…and maybe some innovative leadership that believes in enrichment AND data (which I’m willing to bet Ms. Keegan does if she is from the LA.

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