For Immediate Release

Citywide Survey Shows 90% Parent Approval Rate for NYC Teachers September 6, 2007

Sep 6, 2007 4:10 PM

A solid 90 percent of parents of New York City public school students are satisfied with their children’s teachers, according to the largest ever citywide survey of parents, educators and students on the effectiveness of the school system.

 

            “I’m thrilled to learn that this data confirms what we’ve known anecdotally – that parents by and large love their children’s teachers,” said United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, adding,

 

“This shows that parents agree with educators that having a quality teacher in the classroom is the single most important factor in improving schools and helping students succeed.”

 

            The findings, announced today by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein, were generated by responses from 216,914 parents, 31,592 educators and 338,201 students in the city’s first annual Learning Environment Survey. The survey reports are meant to provide information that schools can use to improve their performance.

 

            Noting that the survey showed that 90 percent of parents are satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of their children’s teachers, Weingarten said it bodes well for more collaboration between parents and educators.

 

            “It’s good to know that so many parents trust their kids’ teachers,” she said. “We’re certainly looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with parents to make our schools the best they can be.”

 

            Weingarten said the survey also shows that parents and educators share many of the same educational priorities and she cited the goal of reducing class size as a prime example.

 

            “Parents chose smaller class size as their single most important priority for school improvement by a substantial margin,” she said, noting that 24 percent of parents endorsed it compared to the next highest choice of more or better enrichment programs, at 19 percent. “And after years of having double- and triple- periods of math and English because of the focus on the standardized test, it is perfectly understandable that parents (and teachers) want enriched curriculum.”

 

            While the majority of those surveyed said they believe their schools to be safe, more than a third (37%) of the parents said they worry about crime and violence in their child’s school, and 36% of the teachers surveyed said discipline and order were not being maintained at their school.

 

Weingarten applauded the Mayor and the Chancellor for conducting the survey, and said it provides a treasure trove of information that should be factored into the forthcoming individual school report cards. She also said the information should be taken into account by principals as they exercise their expanded authority under the new school system reorganization.

 

For example, a key finding of the survey showed that while a majority of teachers feel included in decision making at their schools, significant numbers do not, prompting Weingarten to call for more teacher input in the process.

 

            “The results show that more than a third of teachers surveyed feel that their principals do not encourage open and honest communication on important school issues,” Weingarten said. “And with principals being given more authority under this latest reorganization, the chancellor should make sure they understand and appreciate the need for teachers and parents, too, to have a greater voice in deciding how schools are run,” she added.

 

            Weingarten took issue with one of the findings highlighted by the city Department of Education about parents wanting more test preparation for state tests. Parents were limited in the survey to choosing just one important improvement they want to see. Only 11 percent listed test preparation as their top priority, and of that very small number more parents wanted more test prep instead of less.

 

            “The UFT agrees with the Mayor and the Chancellor that more collaboration between administrators and teaching staff will go a long way toward making our schools places where all parents want to send their children and all teachers want to teach,” Weingarten said. “We view the rich data provided by this survey as a good start toward that goal.”