Mayor Michael Bloomberg may have come out with a new ad touting his administration, but it hasn't helped with his approval rating, according to an exclusive NY1/Marist College poll released Thursday.

Forty percent of new registered voters rate his performance excellent or good, compared to 59 percent fair or poor.

While it's not the lowest Bloomberg's ever been, it's far from his greatest. Pollsters chalk it up to the sluggish economy, though unemployment in the city has been better than the U.S. as a whole. Throw in lingering fallout from the Christmas weekend storm, budget battles and concern about schools and you have the recipe for mayoral malaise.

In February, before the ad started, 44 percent rated him excellent or good, compared to 40 percent now. Fifty-five percent rated him fair or poor then, versus 59 percent now

"People are not giving him good grades at all for handling of the school system, and they're also unhappy with the whole budget picture. And that was really Mayor Bloomberg's calling card. That's what brought Mayor Bloomberg on the scene to begin with," said Marist Pollster Lee Miringoff.

On education, the mayor's signature issue, Bloomberg also has more detractors than admirers with 65 percent saying they disapprove of how he's handing the city's schools. Eight percent weren't sure.

The teachers union's claim that it's most concerned with experience in the classroom rings hollow, with 56 percent of those surveyed saying it's just to protect seniority; 35 percent say it's about experience.

Bloomberg also cited his financial prowess as he changed rules for a third term. It turns out, most New yorkers aren't that pleased. Thirty-eight percent approved of his handling of the budget, versus 56 who disapproved.

The survey of 772 New York City adults was conducted on March 22nd through March 24th, 2011. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.