Majority of New Yorkers trust UFT on education

Voters in New York City put much more faith in the UFT than in Mayor Michael Bloomberg when it comes to protecting public school students’ interests, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Feb. 8.

Fifty-six percent of city voters said they place more trust in the teachers’ union to advocate for students, compared to just 31 percent who place greater trust in the mayor.

The union fares even more favorably among public school parents, with 69 percent telling pollsters that the UFT can be better trusted to do what’s best for their children. Only 22 percent of public school parents said they trust the mayor.

UFT President Michael Mulgrew thanked public school parents and New Yorkers at large for their support of the union, which he called “a vote of confidence” in its members.

“Despite years of ugly rhetoric about teachers and their union from the mayor and his allies, New Yorkers come down overwhelmingly on the side of those who go into schools every day and work hard to make children’s lives better,” Mulgrew said.

Among the poll’s other findings, mayoral control of city schools — which Bloomberg considers among his greatest achievements — proved particularly unpopular, with 57 percent of those polled describing it as a failure and only 24 percent saying it has been a success. In 2008, in contrast, 56 percent of voters said mayoral control had succeeded, compared to 24 percent who said it had not.

Support for the expansion of charter schools, a critical piece of the Bloomberg education agenda, has also declined. In February 2009, 67 percent of voters supported charter school expansion; three years — and many charter schools — later, that number has dropped to just 52 percent.

Respondents were also asked for their opinion on Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott. They gave him a 34 percent job approval rating, down from 39 percent in October.

Voters were sharply divided on the mayor’s overall performance. Forty-six percent of respondents said they support his policies in general, while 44 percent said they do not. That’s a sharp dip in popularity for the mayor, who in September was looked upon favorably by 52 percent of those polled, with only 39 percent disapproving of his policies.

The mayor’s high point came in July 2008, when a Quinnipiac poll showed 71 percent of voters were happy with him, but he has never been able to achieve similar results since then, with his popularity dropping to 37 percent, a career low, in the wake of his handling of the December 2010 blizzard.