New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is beginning his second term in office with his lowest job approval rating yet, thanks to low scores on education and the state's teachers' unions, according to a
Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday that scored him with a 50-39 percent overall rating, compared to a rating of 58-32 percent in December.
"Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets his lowest grade on education, which is the top priority for voters, a grade so bad it pulls down his whole job approval score," said Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "Cuomo gets a rap on the knuckles from the teachers' unions. By better than 2-1, voters trust the unions more than the governor to fix the schools."
Overall, 24 percent of the 1,288 New York voters surveyed between March 11-16 said education should be the top priority for Cuomo and the state legislature, but by a 55-28 percent margin, voters said they trust teachers' unions more than Cuomo to improve education. Further, he scored a negative 28-63 percent rating on how he handles education.
Further, voters said by 71-25 percent that teachers' pay should not be based on their students' performance on standardized tests, and agreed, by 65-30 percent, that tenure should also not be based on test scores. Voters surveyed also supported, by a 50-41 percent margin, increasing the number of charter schools in New York.
Last month, Cuomo outlined a bold agenda for increasing
funding for charter schools, praising them as being a key component in turning around failing schools across the state and in New York City.
Cuomo's grades on other issues included ratings of 49-44 percent on how he handles the economy and jobs; 48-36 percent on energy and the environment; a negative 35-54 percent for ethics in government; and an even split of 43 percent on the state budget.
His approval rating was 63-27 percent among fellow Democrats and 49-40 percent among independent voters, Republicans, though, disapprove of Cuomo by 55-37 percent, the poll showed.
Cuomo got his highest rating among New York City voters, giving 57-28 percent in the city and 59-34 percent in the suburbs. However, upstate voters gave the governor a negative rating of 39-54 percent.
The poll also found that as a liberal state, most New Yorkers support raising the minimum wage, said Carroll, but Cuomo's plan for an $11.50 minimum wage for New York City won more support than Mayor Bill de Blasio's call for $13 an hour.
Voters said, by 73-24 percent, that they support Cuomo's call to
raise the statewide minimum wage to $10.50 an hour, with only Republicans opposing the measure, by 51-46 percent.
But statewide, voters were split, by 47-47 percent, on de Blasio's plan to raise the minimum wage in New York City to $13 per hour, but in the city itself, voters supported the higher wage by 67-29 percent.
Meanwhile, 26 percent of the voters polled said Cuomo more closely represents their political views, while 22 percent agree with de Blasio. But 50 percent of the voters surveyed said that neither leader aligns with their interests.
Also in the poll, New Yorkers said, by 71-20 percent that they support late-term abortion if a woman's health is at risk and by 80-12 percent if her life is at risk.
The poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.