November 11, 2010 - 99 Percent Of New Jersey Voters Say Budget Woes Serious,Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Support For State Worker Layoffs Tops 50 Percent Mark Word format New Jersey's budget problems are "very serious," 86 percent of voters say, while 13 percent say they are "somewhat serious," according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters support layoffs for state workers 54 - 39 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Support is 66 - 25 percent among Republicans and 56 - 38 percent among independent voters, but Democrats oppose layoffs 53 - 40 percent. Women support layoffs 50 - 43 percent while men support layoffs 58 - 35 percent. New Jersey voters support other cutbacks to state workers: 63 - 25 percent, including 52 - 33 percent among Democrats, for furloughs; 78 - 19 percent, including 63 - 31 percent among Democrats, for a wage freeze. Gov. Christopher Christie gets a 52 - 42 percent approval for his handling of the state budget, compared to his overall 51 - 38 percent job approval. He is the only governor or mayor in any state surveyed by Quinnipiac University whose approval for handling the state budget is not well below his overall job approval. "Literally everybody - just a tick short of 100 percent - agrees that the state's in bad budget trouble," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "In the cross hairs: public employees. To help with the budget, a majority now supports layoffs. By a bit more, we'd approve furloughs, and by a lot, we'd like a wage freeze." New Jersey voters say 62 - 26 percent that they would rather cut services than raise taxes to help balance the state budget. Democrats are divided with 43 percent for raising taxes and 41 percent for cutting services. Urban voters say raise taxes 45 - 41 percent. But 29 percent of New Jersey voters say state aid to local governments and school districts should be increased, while 15 percent say state aid should be decreased and 52 percent say keep aid levels the same. By a 56 - 24 percent margin, New Jersey voters have a favorable opinion of public school teachers, a margin that jumps to 66 - 22 percent among voters with children in public schools. But voter opinion of the state's largest teachers union is a negative 21 - 46 percent, including a negative 23 - 45 percent among parents. Public school teacher salaries are "about right," 51 percent of voters say, while 23 percent say they are too high and 18 percent say they are too low. Parents have similar opinions. The teachers union is playing a negative role in improving New Jersey schools, voters say 54 - 36 percent, including 56 - 36 percent among parents. Voters split on whom they trust more to make the right decisions on teacher contracts, with 46 percent trusting Gov. Christie and 44 percent trusting the teachers union. Merit pay for outstanding teachers is a good idea, voters say 67 - 28 percent. By a similar 65 - 29 percent margin, voters say it should be easier to fire bad teachers. "It looks a lot like one of those classic hit-the-other-guy judgments. We want to cut services to balance the budget, but we don't want to cut aid to local government and schools," Carroll said. "New Jerseyans like the people who teach their kids, but they don't like their union. That union bugaboo - merit pay - gets high marks. So does making it easier to fire bad teachers." From November 3 - 8, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,362 New Jersey voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and nationally as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christopher Christie is handling his job as Governor? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 51% 79% 22% 56% 58% 45% 58% 14% Disapprove 38 12 68 32 31 45 33 71 DK/NA 10 9 10 12 11 10 9 15 Philly Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore Approve 39% 47% 59% 50% 61% Disapprove 51 43 28 41 29 DK/NA 10 10 13 9 10 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christopher Christie is handling his job as Governor? Nov 11 Aug 19 Jun 17 2010 2010 2010 Approve 51 51 44 Disapprove 38 36 43 DK/NA 10 13 12 21. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christopher Christie is handling the state budget? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Approve 52% 78% 23% 57% 60% 45% 60% 15% Disapprove 42 16 69 39 36 47 35 77 DK/NA 6 6 8 4 4 8 5 7 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Approve 28% 53% 57% 51% 63% 53% Disapprove 68 42 32 42 32 41 DK/NA 4 5 11 6 5 6 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christopher Christie is handling the state budget? Nov 11 Jun 17 2010 2010 Approve 52 45 Disapprove 42 49 DK/NA 6 6 22. How serious do you think New Jersey's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Very serious 86% 87% 82% 89% 87% 85% 86% 82% Smwht serious 13 12 17 10 12 13 13 13 Not too serious - - 1 - - 1 - 2 Not at all serious - 1 - - - - - - DK/NA 1 - 1 - - 1 - 4 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Very serious 85% 87% 83% 89% 85% 85% Smwht serious 13 12 16 11 13 15 Not too serious - 1 - - - - Not at all serious - - - - 1 - DK/NA 2 - - - 1 - TREND: How serious do you think New Jersey's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious? VERY+SMWHT.... High Low Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 Aug 12 Jun 11 Nov 11 Dec 11 2010 2010 2009 2008 2008 2010 2002 Very serious 86 80 83 67 66 86 35 Somewhat serious 13 17 14 28 29 13 51 Not too serious - 2 1 2 2 - 10 Not at all serious - - - - 1 - 1 DK/NA 1 1 2 3 2 1 3 23. To balance the state budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Raising taxes 26% 12% 43% 23% 21% 30% 20% 39% Cutting services 62 79 41 67 68 56 70 42 DK/NA 13 9 16 10 11 14 10 18 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Raising taxes 45% 30% 13% 22% 20% 24% Cutting services 41 62 71 66 65 66 DK/NA 14 9 16 12 15 10 TREND: To balance the state budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 Mar 16 Jan 26 Apr 2 Dec 12 2010 2010 2009 2006 2006 2003 2002 Raising taxes 26 25 23 29 28 32 28 Cutting services 62 62 68 58 57 54 61 DK/NA 13 13 9 13 16 14 12 24. To help balance the state budget do you support or oppose - layoffs for state employees? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Support 54% 66% 40% 56% 58% 50% 60% 23% Oppose 39 25 53 38 35 43 33 74 DK/NA 7 9 6 6 7 7 7 2 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Support 34% 53% 66% 55% 57% 63% Oppose 61 42 25 38 32 35 DK/NA 5 5 9 7 10 2 25. To help balance the state budget do you support or oppose - furloughs for state employees? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Support 63% 73% 52% 66% 67% 60% 67% 46% Oppose 25 15 33 27 25 26 21 40 DK/NA 11 12 14 7 8 15 11 14 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Support 49% 68% 62% 62% 69% 65% Oppose 35 22 25 25 25 24 DK/NA 16 11 14 13 6 12 26. To help balance the state budget, do you support or oppose a wage freeze for state workers? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Support 78% 86% 63% 84% 81% 75% 82% 67% Oppose 19 13 31 15 17 22 16 32 DK/NA 3 2 5 1 2 3 2 1 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Support 70% 80% 79% 74% 82% 73% Oppose 29 17 20 23 14 26 DK/NA 1 2 2 3 4 - TREND: To help balance the state budget, do you support or oppose a wage freeze for state workers? Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 2010 2010 2009 Support 78 71 75 Oppose 19 23 21 DK/NA 3 6 4 27. Do you think state aid to local governments and school districts should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Increased 29% 18% 42% 28% 22% 35% 26% 51% Decreased 15 23 8 15 19 12 17 9 Kept the same 52 55 48 53 55 50 55 36 DK/NA 4 5 3 4 4 4 3 4 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Increased 32% 32% 23% 30% 24% 31% Decreased 10 14 15 17 20 11 Kept the same 52 51 58 48 53 58 DK/NA 6 3 4 5 3 1 TREND: Do you think state aid to local governments and school districts should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 2010 2010 2009 Increased 29 18 20 Decreased 15 14 16 Kept the same 52 65 60 DK/NA 4 3 4 28. Do you think state aid to your local government and your school district should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Increased 27% 17% 41% 23% 21% 32% 24% 49% Decreased 15 22 6 17 20 10 16 7 Kept the same 56 59 52 58 57 56 58 43 DK/NA 2 2 1 3 2 3 2 1 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Increased 34% 33% 16% 27% 22% 29% Decreased 11 13 15 16 20 11 Kept the same 52 53 65 55 56 60 DK/NA 3 1 3 2 2 - TREND: Do you think state aid to your local government and your school district should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 2010 2010 2009 Increased 27 21 21 Decreased 15 14 15 Kept the same 56 64 62 DK/NA 2 2 2 29. Do you think state aid to urban local governments and urban school districts should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Increased 29% 16% 45% 26% 23% 35% 24% 48% Decreased 20 30 6 23 29 11 22 5 Kept the same 49 49 48 48 46 51 51 45 DK/NA 3 5 1 3 2 4 3 1 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Increased 32% 34% 19% 25% 30% 30% Decreased 13 15 24 20 29 18 Kept the same 53 49 53 51 39 51 DK/NA 2 2 4 4 2 1 TREND: Do you think state aid to urban local governments and urban school districts should be increased, decreased, or kept about the same? Nov 11 Jan 20 Nov 24 2010 2010 2009 Increased 29 27 24 Decreased 20 20 21 Kept the same 49 51 51 DK/NA 3 2 4 31. Is your opinion of New Jersey's public school teachers favorable, unfavorable, or haven't you heard enough about them? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Favorable 56% 47% 62% 58% 56% 55% 55% 56% Unfavorable 24 34 16 24 28 21 26 13 Hvn't hrd enough 19 18 22 17 16 22 17 31 REFUSED 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 - Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Favorable 63% 57% 55% 58% 46% 66% Unfavorable 13 22 25 28 31 22 Hvn't hrd enough 23 20 17 13 21 9 REFUSED 2 1 2 1 1 2 TREND: Is your opinion of New Jersey's public school teachers favorable, unfavorable, or haven't you heard enough about them? Nov 11 June 17 2010 2010 Favorable 56 56 Unfavorable 24 26 Hvn't hrd enough 19 16 REFUSED 1 2 32. Do you think New Jersey public school teacher salaries are too high, too low or about right? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Too high 23% 36% 9% 24% 26% 21% 27% 6% Too low 18 10 31 13 14 22 14 37 About right 51 46 49 56 54 48 52 47 DK/NA 8 8 11 7 7 9 7 10 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Too high 10% 25% 20% 25% 29% 20% Too low 29 17 15 20 12 22 About right 48 51 52 47 54 55 DK/NA 13 6 12 7 5 3 TREND: Do you think New Jersey public school teacher salaries are too high, too low or about right? Nov 11 Jan 21 2010 2010 Too high 23 22 Too low 18 28 About right 51 44 DK/NA 8 7 33. Is your opinion of the state's largest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, favorable, unfavorable, or haven't you heard enough about it? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Favorable 21% 9% 31% 21% 18% 24% 21% 25% Unfavorable 46 66 22 51 55 38 53 9 Hvn't hrd enough 32 23 45 27 26 37 25 66 REFUSED 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 - Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Favorable 23% 24% 18% 24% 13% 23% Unfavorable 25 47 47 43 59 45 Hvn't hrd enough 49 28 31 32 27 32 REFUSED 3 1 3 1 - - TREND: Is your opinion of the state's largest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association, favorable, unfavorable, or haven't you heard enough about it? Nov 11 Jun 17 2010 2010 Favorable 21 24 Unfavorable 46 50 Hvn't hrd enough 32 25 REFUSED 1 1 34. Generally speaking, do you believe the teachers' unions are playing a positive or a negative role in improving New Jersey's educational system? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Positive 36% 20% 53% 34% 31% 40% 32% 63% Negative 54 73 33 59 62 48 60 22 DK/NA 10 7 13 8 7 12 8 16 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Positive 52% 36% 34% 37% 26% 36% Negative 38 55 56 49 67 56 DK/NA 10 9 10 13 7 8 TREND: Generally speaking, do you believe the teachers' unions are playing a positive or a negative role in improving New Jersey's educational system? Nov 11 Jan 21 Oct 15 2010 2010 2009 Positive 36 39 45 Negative 54 48 43 DK/NA 10 12 11 35. Who do you trust more to make the right decisions about teacher's contracts, Governor Christie or the teachers' union? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Christie 46% 71% 18% 49% 54% 38% 53% 7% Union 44 22 70 40 34 53 36 82 DK/NA 11 7 11 11 12 9 10 11 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Christie 25% 47% 50% 42% 55% 45% Union 63 41 40 48 35 45 DK/NA 12 12 9 10 10 10 TREND: Who do you trust more to make the right decisions about teacher's contracts Governor Christie or the teachers' union? Nov 11 Jun 17 2010 2010 Gov Christie 46 43 Teachers' union 44 45 DK/NA 11 13 36. Some people say that public school teachers who do an outstanding job should be rewarded with additional pay so called merit pay. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good idea 67% 66% 65% 69% 69% 65% 66% 64% Bad idea 28 30 28 27 27 29 29 26 DK/NA 5 4 6 4 4 6 5 10 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Good idea 64% 67% 70% 63% 69% 73% Bad idea 30 28 25 29 29 22 DK/NA 6 5 5 8 2 4 TREND: Some people say that public school teachers who do an outstanding job should be rewarded with additional pay so called merit pay. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Nov 11 Jan 21 Oct 15 2010 2010 2009 Good idea 67 66 70 Bad idea 28 31 27 DK/NA 5 3 3 37. Some people have suggested firing public school teachers should be made easier. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good idea 65% 72% 51% 71% 67% 63% 71% 42% Bad idea 29 22 41 24 28 30 24 49 DK/NA 6 6 7 5 4 8 5 9 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Good idea 50% 65% 72% 62% 71% 66% Bad idea 42 30 24 33 19 31 DK/NA 9 5 3 5 9 3 TREND: Some people have suggested firing public school teachers should be made easier. Do you think this is a good idea or a bad idea? Nov 11 Jan 21 Oct 15 2010 2010 2009 Good idea 65 64 64 Bad idea 29 31 30 DK/NA 6 5 6 38. Due to tight budgets, there have been teacher layoffs. Do you think fewer teachers will hurt the quality of education in New Jersey or won't it make a difference? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes/Will hurt 59% 43% 77% 58% 54% 64% 52% 84% No/No diff 36 52 19 38 41 31 43 13 DK/NA 5 6 5 4 5 5 5 2 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Yes/Will hurt 73% 59% 57% 55% 57% 66% No/No diff 22 37 37 40 38 33 DK/NA 5 4 6 5 5 1 39. As you may know, Newark received a $1.5 billion gift to improve its schools. Do you think this money will help the quality of education in Newark or won't it make a difference? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Yes/Will help 52% 45% 68% 47% 48% 56% 48% 64% No/No diff 41 48 26 46 48 34 45 27 DK/NA 7 7 7 6 4 10 7 8 Philly HvKids Urban SbUrbn ExUrbn land Shore PubSch Yes/Will help 67% 55% 50% 46% 42% 54% No/No diff 28 37 41 45 52 39 DK/NA 4 7 9 9 6 7 40. As you may know, Governor Christie has said he intends to change a historically liberal state Supreme Court. Do you think that is a good idea or a bad idea? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Good idea 44% 75% 14% 45% 53% 35% 52% 9% Bad idea 43 13 73 42 37 49 36 71 DK/NA 13 12 13 13 10 16 13 20 41. As you may know, the State Senate has refused to act on the Governor's state Supreme Court nominee Anne Murray Patterson. Which comes closer to your point of view - the State Senate is foot dragging or the State Senate is protecting an independent judiciary? Tot Rep Dem Ind Men Wom Wht Blk Foot dragging 35% 47% 21% 41% 43% 29% 39% 26% Protecting judiciary 35 22 47 35 36 34 32 39 DK/NA 29 31 32 24 21 37 29 35
