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Annual Schools Survey Shows Parents More Satisfied Than Teachers

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July 23, 2012, 9:13 a.m.

The annual report card for the public schools completed by parents, teachers and students offers mixed grades for the system.

A bit more than half of all New York City public school parents weighed in, with about two-thirds of them saying they were satisfied or very satisfied with Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott, compared with just over one-third of the teachers.

When it comes to their own school, 94 percent of parents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the education their child received this year.

Just over half of the 62,000 teachers who completed the survey said the current system in which they’re evaluated, as either “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” by their principal, does not recognize exemplary performance.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has led an unsuccessful fight for merit pay. He’s also at odds with the teachers’ union, the United Federation of Teachers, over the details for a new evaluation system that will rely in part on student test scores.

A total of 967,000 parents, teachers and elementary and middle school students participated in the survey.

More than four out of five students responded that they felt safe in the hallways, bathrooms and locker rooms at their school, about the same as last year.

For more detail and data on community schools and District 75 special education schools, follow these links: Report for Community Schools, Report for District 75 Schools.

Beth Fertig is a senior reporter at WNYC. Follow her on Twitter @bethfertig

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Eugene Falik July 24, 2012, 4:43 AM

And what was the single thing that parents overwhelmingly said should be done to improve the schools? Reduce class size!

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Tracy Robinson July 23, 2012, 5:57 PM

I had this idea the other day. Hit me like a brick wall! What if everyone [who attends and has attended a public school] gives a weekly donation like they do at churches? Can you imagine how far two dollars a week from everyone would go towards improving our public schools?

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Leonie Haimson July 24, 2012, 4:38 PM

For more on what Eugene cites -- and this story leaves out, see our blog here NYC Public School Parents: Glaring omission from DOE's presentation of latest survey results - http://goo.gl/H6oZW

and HuffPo today here: Smaller Class Size' Tops List Of Changes New York City Parents Want In Their Children's Schools - http://goo.gl/xSoUZ

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