QOD: Majority of NYC Residents Oppose De Blasio's Control of City Schools & Hostility Towards Charters

Next Spring the New York State Legislature will decide whether or not to award New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio another year (or more) of control of the city’s schools. If the Legislature takes public opinion into account, a just-released Quinnipiac University poll has some bad news for the Mayor’s prospects. Chalkbeat reports today that 75% of NYC residents “said they thought the city’s mayor should share control of local schools with other lawmakers,up from two out of three last year. Just 23 percent said he should retain complete control of the city’s schools.”  Chalkbeat continues,
One likely flashpoint in negotiations: charter schools, the privately managed and publicly funded schools that currently educate nearly 10 percent of city students. De Blasio’s predecessor, Mike Bloomberg, championed the schools, but the current mayor has been lukewarm toward them, saying repeatedly that only some educate their fair share of needy students. 
The new poll repeats earlier findings that more voters support charter schools than oppose them — although nearly two thirds said they don’t have enough information to say where de Blasio stands. In fact, more than half of voters said that if they had school-aged children, they would prefer to send them to charter schools, including 66 percent of Bronx residents surveyed. 
Families for Excellent Schools, a charter advocacy group, said the poll proves that de Blasio’s approach to charter schools is not what New Yorkers want. The group also highlighted the fact that 60 percent of New Yorkers say they are not satisfied with the city’s schools.