We’ve published story after story about where the mayoral candidates stand on education. But with the primary around the corner, who should education voters vote for?
The Democratic front-runners share many of their positions of education—many of them pushing back against Bloomberg’s legacy—but they also have some key differences. The Republican contenders, meanwhile, have offered fewer specifics but are looking to maintain the status quo.
Here, we took a look at where the candidates diverge on crucial issues of education policy and compiled their top priorities to help if you haven’t yet made a final pick.
For more information, you can also check out our Next Education Mayor feature. The primary is on Tuesday, Sept. 10 and if a candidate doesn’t receive 40 percent of the vote, the runoff will be Tuesday, Oct. 1 between the top two finishers. You can only vote in the primary election if you are a registered member of that party. Check here if you’re not sure where to vote.
The Democratic Primary:
We asked the Democratic frontrunners to send us their top education priorities and we compiled the rest of the information based on what candidates have said during debates and interviews.
Polls from Quinnipiac, the New York Times/Siena, amNewYork/News 12 show Bill de Blasio in the lead, Bill Thompson coming in second and Christine Quinn in third. Only the Quinnipiac poll shows de Blasio reaching the magic 40 percent threshold, which would mean no Democratic runoff election.
The Republican Primary:
In the Republican race, polls show that MTA Chairman Joe Lhota has locked in about 50 percent of votes, with the next closest candidate, billionaire John Catsimatidis at less than 30 percent. For the most part, candidates want to maintain the status quo and continue Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies– like holding onto mayoral control and giving charter schools public space.
Lhota and Catsimatidis didn’t respond to our requests for their top education priorities, so we compiled the information from comments they’ve made in interviews and debates.