EDUCATION IS THE PRIORITY IN NYC
FOR NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS EDUCATION ECLIPSES EVERY OTHER ISSUE IN THE GOVERNOR’S RACE
Rochester, N.Y. (August 2, 2006) - For New York City residents education eclipses every other issue in the governor’s race, making the Big Apple the only region in the state where this issue overwhelms all others, according to a poll commissioned by New York Matters and conducted by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
Twenty-six percent of NYC residents maintain education is the greatest issue facing the next governor, far outpacing the next most significant issues – jobs and housing, which each garnered only 9 percent of respondents’ votes.
If NYC residents were to list the #1 priority for state government, one in four say it should be providing a quality education for all children, well ahead of the next most popular choice – keeping us safe.
Most residents of the Big Apple support any of four proposed solutions for responding to the Campaign for Equity court order, including options that would result in raising state taxes. The most popular – supported by 74 percent – is the so-called Robin Hood option, which involves keeping educational spending level but shifting money from rich districts to poor districts.
Other major findings of the poll:
- Nearly five years after September 11, one in four NYC residents says that their quality of life has improved in the past five years. That’s a more positive response than the state as a whole where only one in about five residents feel that way.
- NYC residents are much less likely than residents of the state to report that the economy is worse now than it was five years ago – 30 percent versus 40 percent statewide.
The New York Matters telephone survey was conducted to identify and spotlight the issues that matter most to New Yorkers heading into the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. The study interviewed 2,492 state residents, including the statewide benchmark of 850 residents.
The poll also interviewed extra residents in seven regions to measure opinion within the very different parts of New York., with at least 350 residents interviewed in each region. In NYC, 360 residents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island were interviewed. The margin of error for each region is plus or minus 5.5 percentage points, with a larger margin of error for results based on race.
Other highlights of the poll include:
- Job the state government is doing providing a quality education for all children: a whopping 73 percent (versus 66 percent statewide) give the state either “poor” or “only fair” ratings. Compared with the state as a whole, NYC residents are more adamant that state government is flunking the job – 38 percent say it is doing a poor job versus 30 percent statewide.
- State of education over the past five years: African-American and Latino residents are more positive than White residents about the state of education. About 35 percent of African-Americans and 31 percent of Latinos say it is better now, while only 22 percent of White residents say it is.
- Keeping us safe: This is the only issue of 20 highlighted in the poll for which NYC residents give state government overall favorable ratings. Mirroring the rest of New York, 57 percent say state government is doing an excellent or good job in this area.
- Health care priorities: in the state the overwhelming issue is affordability, but in NYC 39 percent say state government’s top priority in health care should be keeping health care affordable, but 34 percent say it should be helping the uninsured get health care.
The poll is part of the Center for Governmental Research’s New York Matters initiative. The next phase of the project will be to engage citizens in conversation about the issues. There will be forums, driven by voter discussion, in regions around the state. The New York Matters forum in the NYC area is scheduled for September 27 and will be done in conjunction with the Citizens Budget Commission. Details will be forthcoming.
Click here to read the full report. (PDF)