Bloomberg Wants More Power Over Workforce

NEW YORK — Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is pessimistic that Albany will come through with enough money to allow the city to avoid layoffs, wants Gov. Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers to give his administration more power to decide which workers should keep or lose their jobs.

At the top of the mayor’s Albany agenda is a renewed push to change a law that protects from layoffs city teachers with the most seniority. The law dictates that the newest teachers, even those highly regarded by principals, would be the first to lose their jobs.

The mayor also is seeking broader authority over the city’s work force. On the heels of a Bloomberg administration report that was sharply critical of the state Civil Service Commission, city officials want lawmakers to gut the commission’s power over the city. The commissioners, who are appointed by the governor, have control over hiring practices, titles, promotions and performance standards covering more than 200,000 city workers.

Bloomberg officials say they also plan to lobby the Cuomo administration for a new, lower-cost pension tier for future hires. But they aren’t pushing for a 401(k)-type system to replace the current, guaranteed-benefit system.

Known as the last-in/first-out rule, the school statute has long remained on the books despite criticism from city officials and education advocates, who say it prevents principals in times of budget strain from keeping the best teachers.

Mr. Cuomo hasn’t taken a position on the rule. A spokesman for the governor didn’t respond for comment. A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos said the Long Island Republican hasn’t discussed the issue with his conference. Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has opposed changing the rule.

Democratic lawmakers proposed to overturn the statute last year, but a bill stalled in committee. Bloomberg officials say they’ll have a better shot this year with Republicans controlling the Senate and with layoffs a more serious threat.

“I don’t believe the public will stomach layoffs that don’t account for merit,” said Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson.

The head of the city’s teachers union, Michael Mulgrew, said the seniority rule ensures that if layoffs become necessary, “they are not conducted in a manner that discriminates against people on the basis of race, age or gender.”

About 40% of the city’s school budget comes from Albany, which delivers about $8 billion a year. In the last budget, state aid to New York City public schools dipped by 2% versus the previous year. But an extra helping of federal aid from the teacher jobs bill made up that difference, and federal stimulus aid also helped.

With the stimulus expiring, the city is expecting a drop of about $900 million in federal school aid. That difference is about 5% of the city education department’s projected budget of $19 billion. Meanwhile, the city is forecasting total spending growth of 2%, or more than $350 million more than the current-year figure.

Together, that’s more than $1 billion that either the state or the city needs to make up. Albany, which is facing a large deficit of its own, isn’t likely to contribute much of that, and may even bring down school spending from the current-year level.

Last year, the mayor avoided layoffs by scrapping pay raises for teachers. The drop-off in federal help, though, has winnowed his options.

A Democratic assemblyman who proposed a bill last year that would have repealed the seniority rule says his colleagues may be more receptive.

“It’s not hopeless. If a year ago, you had said you were going to raise the cap on charter schools and pass other educational reforms, people would have thought that was impossible,” said Jonathan Bing. “If layoffs are necessary, you want to make sure the best teachers are retained.”