New York City Mayor Bloomberg's administration is taking a wait-and-see attitude before it signs its support for the state's Race to the Top application. GothamSchools.org reported Friday that it is waiting to see if the state legislature will raise the cap on charter schools, which the Regents have proposed. Better yet, it wants the cap removed, as Gov. David Paterson has proposed.

The City's lack of endorsement should matter, considering it represents about 40 percent of the state's public school population and an even higher percentage of lower income, federal Title One students. Mayor Bloomberg and City Schools Chancellor Joel don't normally carry much weight in the state legislature, which is typical of mayors and schools chancellors going back decades. On this issue, however, the City has leverage in Washington since the Bloomberg/Klein education record has been strong and is viewed favorably. If NYC is unimpressed with the state's Race to the Top application as a result of tepid changes this week by the legislature, Obama administration evaluators may take a similarly dim view.

State Education Commissioner David Steiner extended the deadline for school districts and charters to Wednesday (Jan. 13). We will know a lot more the direction the legislature is taking by then.

The state legislature should take care this week to enact serious education reforms recommended by the Regents and win the support of Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein. For Race to the Top, it matters.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard