The shuttering of 19 city schools does not appear to have had a significant impact on public support for the way Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein have steered city schools, according to new poll results released today.
The poll, released today by Quinnipiac University, reported that 39 percent of New Yorkers approve Klein’s handling of the schools. That’s up two points from March 2009, when Klein’s approval rating dropped seven points to 37 percent in the midst of a heated public discussion of Klein’s tenure.
Klein’s current rates of support are lowest in Queens and the Bronx, the two boroughs where the Department of Education is set to close the highest number of schools.
The poll also asked whether respondents would support increasing public school class size as a way of helping balance the city budget. Three-quarters answered no, with the highest rates of opposition among black and Hispanic respondents and among women.
A chart tracking Klein’s approval rates since February 2003 is below the jump: