More than seven of every 10 teachers support giving new colleagues the choice between a 401(k)-style retirement plan and a traditional pension – but most also oppose cutting traditional pension plan benefits for future teachers, a new poll has found.

Gov. Cuomo is pushing state lawmakers to scale back traditional “defined benefit” pensions for all new public employees while offering each future government worker a 401(k)-style “defined contribution” plan as an alternative – though Capitol insiders indicate the 401(k) element will likely be dropped as part of a broader pension reform deal.

The conservative Empire Center for Public Policy, which strongly backs the 401(k) choice, commissioned the March 5-11 McLaughlin & Associates survey of 500 New York public school teachers – whose unions vehemently oppose the entire Cuomo “pension Tier VI” proposal.

In a break with recent polls of New York voters, McLaughlin found Cuomo with a 52-32 percent unfavorable rating among teachers – who by 2-to-1 also rated Mayor Bloomberg unfavorably. Cuomo has taken on teacher unions and proclaimed himself “the students’ lobbyist.”

The poll found 52 percent of teachers opposed raising required pension contributions by new colleagues, 63 percent were against an increase in the 10-year pension vesting period for future teachers and nearly 78 percent turned thumbs down to an increase in the retirement age for yet-to-be-hired teachers. All are key elements of the Cuomo plan.

While nearly 69 percent of teachers described public pensions as a “problem,” two-thirds said they thought the current system was sustainable.

On the 401(k) choice, 70 percent said they would have at least considered a 401(k)-style plan if it had been an opition when they were hired, 26 percent said they would have chosen such a plan and 57 percent supported a “hybrid” retirement plan combining a smaller defined benefits pension with defined contribution accounts.

“Teachers who like their unions also like the kind of retirement plan choice the governor wants to give them,” said Empire Center director Tim Hoefer, who noted the poll showed support for a defined-contribution option even among teachers who had favorable opinions of their unions.

Three quarters of the poll’s respondents were women and 70 percent were white. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 4.5 percent.

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