A poll being released today on teacher evaluations will give each side in the fierce dispute over their validity reason to cheer.
Mayor Bloomberg will be happy because a solid 58 percent of voters in the Quinnipiac University survey approved making the numbers public, while only 38 percent didn’t.
Mike Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, will have a smile on his face because 46 percent of those very same voters called the evaluations flawed and a mere 20 percent deemed them trustworthy.
Both Bloomberg and Mulgrew will be scratching their heads over this poll result: even though the performance figures are suspect, 54 percent of voters said teachers who scored highly on them should be rewarded with raises.
But teachers who land at the bottom of the ratings shouldn’t be fired, said 55 percent of those questioned.
The bottom line seemed to be that voters wanted to judge the numbers for themselves, but didn’t want them used to punish teachers, who were held in high regard by 50-21 percent margin.
The candidates for mayor in 2013 would be wise to get with the program.
The poll reported that 25 percent of respondents would be less likely to vote for someone who opposed releasing the evaluations; 13 percent said they’d be more inclined to support such a candidate.
Voters were divided 44-43 percent on whether the teachers’ union plays a positive rather than a negative role in improving schools. But the union was more trusted than the mayor — 50 to 38 percent — to protect the interests of public schools kids.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott received his highest grades since taking office last year — 43 percent positive and 31 percent negative.
Voters eagerness for more information extended to the restaurant grades handed out by the Health Department.
An overwhelmingly 82 percent lauded the grading program and 67 percent said they took grades into account before deciding where to eat.
The poll of 964 New York City voters was conducted March 6-11. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.