Cuomo Job Approval 47%-51% In Latest Siena Poll

New Siena poll out this morning with some interesting findings.

The pollster outfit and some media outlets are leading his favorability rating (60%-35%).

But his job approval is underwater (47%-51%) in the poll.

So a mixed bag for Cuomo.

I'm unsure why some of the media outlets are leading with favorability over job approval.

Favorability means whether people like the guy or not.

Job approval means whether people like the job he's doing.

It seems to me the job approval numbers are much more important an indicator of whether the public supports Cuomo on his policy agenda or not.

With a 47% job approval, 51% job disapproval number, it's clear that a majority (albeit a slim one) do NOT approve of the job Cuomo's doing.

One final thing to note here (and I'll have more on this later.)

The Siena poll found the following on education and Common Core:

When it came to education, voters gave a negative rating to public schools in preparing students to be college or career ready.

Yet by a margin of 49 percent to 34 percent, voters said implementation of controversial Common Core testing standards, aimed at better accessing students’ needs, should be stopped.

That's a 15% lead for "Get Rid Of The Core" - but Cuomo will decidely NOT take on that issue in his coming "full education reform agenda."

I've said for a while, if the unions were willing to fight Cuomo on the Core, they could beat him over the head with it, run ads with kids crying over their incomprehensible EngageNY homework and do serious damage to his reform agenda.

Alas, they will not do that do that because they support the Core themselves.

And so, an excellent opportunity to do real damage to Cuomo's reform agenda will not be taken and, in the end, Cuomo will lwind up framing the fight as "Fire Bad Teachers!" and probably win just about everything he wants.

It's a shame, because with a 47%-51% job approval rating and a 49%-34% "Kill The Core" sentiment out there, Cuomo could have been beaten in this education reform fight.

But that would mean a real shift in policy stance by the unions on Common Core and testing - something that the union leadership apparently will not do even as many of their rank and file are doing just that.