It’s war.
Teachers union president Mike Mulgrew dropped a nuclear verbal bomb on Mayor Bloomberg yesterday, equating him with Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak for tearing into parents who heckled Schools Chancellor Cathie Black at a recent meeting.
The rapidly escalating war of words between the two men — who were on friendly terms just a few months ago — was sparked by comments the mayor made on his radio show yesterday directed at hundreds of parents who booed and yelled at Black during a meeting Thursday night on closing failing schools.
“This is embarrassing for New York City, New York state, for America,” the mayor said yesterday.
“This is not democracy — letting people yell and scream. That’s not freedom of expression. That’s just trying to take away somebody else’s rights. And if we want to attract good people to come and work for the public, you don’t do this.”
Bloomberg went on to say that irate parents had taken out their hostility not only at Black, but were also insulting “our teachers,” “the principals,” “the safety officers” and even “the custodians.”
Mulgrew shot back that the mayor should be the last person talking democratic ideals, suggesting the Panel for Educational Policy, which voted to close 12 schools Thursday, was entirely undemocratic and took its marching orders only from Bloomberg.
“It’s apparent the mayor shares his definition of democracy with Hosni Mubarak,” said Mulgrew, comparing Bloomberg to the dictator who refuses to relinquish his 30-year stranglehold.
“For the mayor to talk about the PEP and democracy is the height of hypocrisy. The last time they voted against him, he fired them.”
In 2004, Bloomberg axed three PEP members who refused to go along with plans to end automatic promotions for third-graders.
The Mayor’s Office declined to respond to Mulgrew’s super-charged rhetoric.
Until fairly recently, Mulgrew and Bloomberg got along as well as any mayor and union leader could at a time of shrinking budgets.
Mulgrew was restrained even when the administration first threatened thousands of teacher layoffs, which were subsequently rescinded and then proposed again late last year.
Insiders said the breaking point came when Bloomberg began pushing for the right to lay off teachers without regard to seniority, which the mayor said was necessary to retain the best new teachers.
A source said another stark example of the rupture between the teachers union and City Hall came when the Bloomberg called for sweeping labor concessions in his State of the City Address and notified Mulgrew only moments before going public.
“Things are very tense,” said one insider.