Siena Poll Says New York Voters Agree With Opting Out of State Exams

A new poll from Siena College indicates how New York state voters feel on the right to opt out of tests and corruption in the state government.

It's been an issue debated hotly throughout the Hudson Valley and the state at large but the general consensus seems to be--outside of New York City--that parents are right to choose against standardized testing for their children, according to the poll:

By small margins, Democrats, Republicans and independents all agree that parents were right to have their children opt out of the recent round of state exams for third through eight graders,” Greenberg said. “Downstate suburbanites think parents were right by a 12-point margin, while upstaters thought parents were right by a nearly two-to-one margin but New York City voters thought parents were wrong by a 57-38 percent margin.

Corruption and ethics issues, a topic that has plagued New York state since... well, since Henry Hudson's been around, it seems, were also covered:

Nearly two-thirds of voters say that the ethics package recently enacted along with the state budget will have no real effect on corruption in state government, however, by a 54-36 percent margin, they say that Governor Andrew Cuomo did the right thing in dropping some ethics measures in order to get the budget passed on time.

The poll also has a lot of information on voters' thoughts on potential presidential candidates and other topics. You can check it out in its entirety here.