Two-thirds of New Yorkers say student results on Common Core exams should be used to rate teachers, according to a poll released Monday.
Of the 67 percent of voters who support linking test results to teacher evaluations, 39 percent said the results should count for 25 percent of an educator’s score, 19 percent it should cover half the grade and 9 percent said it should count more than 50 percent, the Sienna College Poll found.
Thirty percent of voters opposed using student test scores to evaluate teachers.
Over the fierce opposition of the teachers’ union, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature approved a law that seeks to more closely link student test results to teacher job ratings and tenure decisions.
The same law would make it easier to fire teachers rated ineffective for two consecutive years. Termination proceedings are required for teachers rated poorly for three years.
Again, voters overwhelmingly supported the more rigorous accountability measures.
Voters support firing teachers rated ineffective for two consecutive years by a 59 to 36 percent margin.
And by 67 to 27 percent, they back dismissal proceedings against any teacher found to be ineffective for three years, the survey showed.
Voters were more evenly split on whether parents should have the right to “opt out” of their kids taking the state Common Core exams in English and math for grades 3 through 8. Overall, 50 percent supported the test boycott and 44 percent opposed it.
There were huge regional and racial divides.
In New York City, voters opposed the boycott by 57 to 38 percent. And a majority of black and Hispanic voters opposed the opt-out movement 53 to 44 percent.
But upstate voters were all for the boycott by 62 to 33 percent and suburban voters backed it 52 to 40 percent. White voters said it was the right thing to do by a 55 to 38 percent margin.
Six in 10 voters said Albany doesn’t spend enough to support education. But when asked if they would be willing to pay higher state income taxes to foot the bill, voters were split — 47 percent said yes and 49 percent said no.