Mayor Bloomberg is not pleased with Gov. Cuomo’s inaugural budget.
“[It] does not treat New York City equitably,” the mayor moans.
He should take a number: The “gimme-mine” queue is already so long you’d think Cuomo were handing out free Super Bowl tickets.
It’s a pity, really.
Bloomberg has a compelling story to tell, and presenting himself as merely another special-interest pleader just undercuts his case.
Far better for him to carve out his own turf — and focus his considerable talents and resources on a push for one vital reform: the ability to lay off teachers based on merit, rather than seniority.
Sure, Cuomo wants to float a whole lot less cash down the Hudson than City Hall expected. Mayoral aides say they were counting on hikes in state funding; Cuomo’s budget cuts $659.4 million — a nearly $2 billion swing.
But why Bloomberg & Co. expect Cuomo to boost funding during a cash famine is a bewilderment.
After all, city spending on Bloomberg’s watch has soared from $41.2 billion to $64.6 billion, a 57 percent spike even as inflation was just 23 percent.
Meanwhile, Cuomo is asking Bloomberg to accept a 5.8 percent reduction in state funding for the city — while he’s cutting his own budget by 10 percent.
What’s unfair about that?
Really, Bloomberg needs to disassociate himself from the cardboard-cup shakers and concentrate on making the truly compelling case that’s at his fingertips.
Let’s be frank: Very few of Cuomo’s budget-cutting initiatives are truly viable without state-mandate relief.
Pension relief, already a Bloomberg priority, must be central to any mandate-relief program, and presently we will address this issue in detail.
But with thousands of teacher layoffs looming, even more critical is the scrapping of the archaic last-in, first-out rule — which will require the Department of Education to dismiss its most recent hires, no matter how effective, and to keep deadwood senior teachers.
City Hall was already planning pink slips for thousands of teachers; Cuomo’s budget may lead to thousands more. Unless LIFO is scrapped, the quality of the city’s teaching staff will take a lethal hit.
Bloomberg’s legacy — and the city’s future — depend on public-education reform. Repealing LIFO has to be the mayor’s No. 1 priority.
New Yorkers seem to agree. A poll yesterday showed some 74 percent statewide– including strong support Upstate — favor a merit-based system over LIFO.
Cuomo, who understandably is focused on budget numbers right now, needs to get behind ending LIFO, too.
Bloomberg has the tools to concentrate the governor’s attention on repeal.
If he can only concentrate his own.