NY Times / CBS News Poll: Bloomberg's Support at Lowest in Six Years

The New York Times reported today, August 16, 2011, that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's popularity ratings are at their lowest this month, since six years ago:

"Poll Finds Bloomberg’s Approval Rating the Lowest in 6 Years."


We have to remember that the last times that New York City's mayor had such low ratings among polled city residents was in the 2002-2003 period, when the region was still recovering from the economic effects of September 11 and before that the bursting of the Dot Com Bubble.

Read through these numbers of New York City mayors' poll numbers. The views on mayoral job performance and condition of the city's economy have not been so unfavorable since 2003.

Read the full story by David W. Chen and Marjorie Connelly in "The New York Times."

What is mayor Bloomberg's point with insisting that schools stay open in a blizzard?

What is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's point in keeping the schools open in a blizzard?

There is no great utility in this. Large percentages of students stay home. The large fraction of teachers at outer-borough schools live in Long Island. The news reports and the transportation authorities urged people to stay home and told of special trouble in Long Island. The insistence on the schools remaining open while practically every other municipality in the region shut down schools is placing a great imposition on the innumerable teachers, administrators and other staff that must drive from Long Island or narrower streets in the outer boroughs.

Again, a huge fraction of students stayed home on January 12. What sense does it make for teachers to introduce new material when half or more of a classes' students are gone for the day? And what happens, in terms of staff scheduling? The remaining staff or administrators need to scrounge for substitutes, and in the case of deficient numbers of teachers, the staff/administrators must reschedule or consolidate classes.

All in all, staff go through hell, riding near empty public transit or driving on snow-slogged non-arterial roads.

The smart teacher is the one that doesn't listen to the news and just goes into work. Today demonstrates that it is pointless to expect school closings. (Last winter's closing was announced at 6:00 AM, after many staff are on the road or trains to begin their commute.)

So what is the point, Mr. Mayor? No serious new educational targets can be accomplished, as half or more of the students are absent.

Blog reading teachers, please submit your reports of how many students actually were in attendance in your classes in online poll at the right.

Poll: Which workplace TV show does you school remind you of?

In an more immediate sense, the physical structure of our schools reminds us of films such as "Up the Down Staircase" or the threats from students bring "The Blackboard Jungle" to mind. Or the quest for respect, as in "To Sir With Love," only the real world teacher's quest for respect from administrators, not just the Sidney Portier character's search for peace between students.

Our schools exude farce, pathos, irony, tragedy, scandal. The comedies in the poll at right come to mind as I think of the ... challenges ... as I put it, delicately, of working in New York City (NYC) public schools / the Board of Ed / the Department of Education.

Your vote in this online poll and your comments are most welcome.

Which figure triggers a NYC primary run-off?

No telling which figure triggers a run-off primary for the Democratic candidates.

No telling from wikipedia, New York City official election office sites or any other sites, as to which figure will trigger a run-off.

Here is an August 26, 2009 Quinnipiac University report on polls as to who is ahead in the city-wide races (mayor, public advocate and comptroller). The latter two races are for open seats.