Metro

Fitting tribute to Dr. King: Focus on education

Martin Luther King Day is a fitting time to reflect on the need to increase the number of charter schools in New York, a state lawmaker said yesterday.

Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (D-Bronx) plans to devote his speeches today to the need to eliminate the cap.

“In the last years of his life, Dr. King was focusing on economic rights and economic justice for the African-American population, and the only true course to economic justice is when you have a better-educated population,” Benjamin said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and her potential primary rival, Harold Ford Jr., are scheduled to appear at an event hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton at his Harlem-based National Action Network.

Gov. Paterson and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — potential Democratic gubernatorial rivals this year — also are expected to attend.

Federal, state and city government offices, post offices, schools, Wall Street and most banks are closed today. Alternate-side parking, garbage and recycling pickups and street cleaning are suspended.