By Elizabeth Ladzinski
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — An overwhelming 78 percent of New York City voters want to abolish the state's "last in, first out" teacher firing policy, a new Quinnipiac University poll finds.
New York City voters agree that if public school teachers must be laid off, it should be based on job performance rather than seniority, according to the poll.
The results come as the fight amongst Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor Andrew Cuomo and the teachers' union over changing legislation for teacher firing rules continues to make headlines.
Over the past few weeks, Mayor Bloomberg has voiced his approval to end the existing LIFO policy — a position that was also backed by the state senate — in favor of a bill that would base teacher layoffs on factors such as chronic absenteeism and poor student test scores.
However, Gov. Cuomo backed a competing plan that would base teacher firings off of seniority and other performance-based factors.
The city is planning to lay off 4,666 teachers starting as early as next spring, which has left both parents and schools reeling.
Eight days ago, parents rallied at City Hall, warning that the city's plan to eliminate teaching jobs would be disastrous to already overcrowded classrooms.
The Quinnipiac poll also found that in general, voters have a favorable opinion of public school teachers.
Quinnipiac University interviewed 1,115 registered voters from March 8 to March 14. The margin of error for the poll is +/- 2.9 percentage points.
