A majority of New York City voters disapprove of the way Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has handled his signature issue, education, and are looking for his successor to take the city schools in a new direction, a NY1-Marist Poll found.
The poll, released late Tuesday, found that 34 percent of voters approve of Mr. Bloomberg’s handling of the city’s public schools, 56 percent disapprove and 10 percent are unsure.
It also found that nearly two out of three — 62 percent — want the next mayor to move in a new direction, compared with 27 percent who want to see Mr. Bloomberg’s policies continued, and 11 percent who are unsure.
“He’s been offered up as ‘the education mayor’ and this becomes a focal point for criticism,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “Clearly there is significant dissatisfaction with the school system in New York.”
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The NY1-Marist ratings are the lowest for Mr. Bloomberg since March 2011, when he was in the midst of the controversy over his appointment of Cathleen P. Black as the city’s chancellor.
Not that any of this matters.
Bloomberg is a dictator and will continue to do what he wants to do the public school system these last 20 months of his autocratic power over schools.
Expect those 23 SIG schools closed and half the teachers sent to the ATR pool.
Expect many schools closed next year - perhaps even the 75 former comptroller Bill Thompson said Bloomberg wants to close - and many new charter schools opened and co-located like a cancer into buildings with traditional public schools.
Expect Bloomberg and the other media oligarchs to put lots of pressure onto the UFT to make a deal on teacher evaluations so that Bloomberg can add dozens of high stakes city tests in addition to the standardized tests that the state will be adding starting next year.
And if the public doesn't support any of this - so what?
We don't live in a democracy - we live in a corporatocracy.
What the autocratic business guys want, the autocratic business guys get.
No chance that the other politicians will smell blood and look to reintroduce a Bill to end mayoral control of the PEP? This would still maintain mayoral control but, there would be a check to his unbridled power? Slim to none??
ReplyDeleteSlim to none. All the mayoral candidates support mayoral control, the Republicans in the State Senate won't bring the bill up for a vote, and the corporate-owned media uses the ghost of the old BOE to scare the public into thinking the PEP isn't the rubber stamp tool of our fascist dictator.
ReplyDeleteSo no, I see no chance it will pass.
Oh, and Norm Scott always notes that the UFT leadership isn't in favor of getting rid of mayoral control either.
Another reason to think it is DOA.