Many polls on public education confirm voters' strong support for the resources needed for quality public schools and institutions of higher education. Alan Lubin, at center in photo, of New York State United Teachers talks with staff at the union's polling center, where overnight polling is conducted to provide a snapshot of public opinion. "Consistently we find results that confirm the findings of the Quinnipiac poll," Lubin said. "Voters see public education as a high priority, a finding that holds true even in challenging economic times." Photo by Rick Flemming.

The public overwhelmingly wants the state to provide more money for education, independent pollsters say. And the momentum for public education is growing so much that one independent poll found that New Yorkers say 3-to-1 that the state should raise taxes on the rich to pay for it.

"New Yorkers are almost unanimous when they say: Hands off our schools," said Maurice Carroll, director of the independent Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, which has tracked voters' opinions throughout the budget process. "They would rather tax the rich. They would even prefer raising state taxes to hold the line on local taxes and to help the schools."

In the mid-April poll of 885 New York state registered voters, Gov. George Pataki's negative rating soared, with 63 percent opposed to his handling of the state budget. By an 88 to 9 percent margin, voters said the governor's plan to cut aid to local schools was a bad idea. In February, 85 percent of those polled by Quinnipiac opposed the governor's plan to cut school aid.

"Gov. Pataki says he's being consistent with his anti-tax message," Carroll said. "But voters don't like how he's dealing with the state's big fiscal problems."

The April survey found that 71 percent of voters would support "a temporary tax increase on the wealthy" to balance the state budget.

By a 61 to 30 percent vote, respondents said they would support a plan similar to one being considered in Pennsylvania where state income taxes would be raised with the money going to increase school aid and lower local property taxes.

These pro-education numbers are even stronger than earlier polls, indicating support just keeps growing as voters learn about the devastating impact of budget cuts. A March poll by Peter D. Hart Associates of 460 registered voters found that 53 percent of voters think New York spends too little on education, while just 10 percent believe the state spends too much. Respondents were most concerned that the budget cuts would lead to double digit increases in property taxes, teacher layoffs and skyrocketing class sizes.

When given a choice between Pataki's "no new taxes" position and a statement calling for an alternative approach, voters in the Hart survey also rejected the Pataki position and embraced the alternative by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Fifty-nine percent of voters agreed that, instead of cutting funding for public schools and colleges, "we should be asking big corporations and people with the highest incomes to help carry the load by paying their fair share of taxes," according to Hart.