4,278 Teachers To Be Laid Off - Stringer Calls Mayor's Teacher Layoffs "Political"

And indeed they are:

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg intends to eliminate 4,278 teaching jobs through layoffs, and about 1,500 through attrition, marking the first significant layoffs of teachers since the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.

The slashing of jobs are part of the Mr. Bloomberg’s effort to slice an additional $400 million from various city agencies to help plug a multibillion-dollar deficit in his $65.6 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. That budget is about the same size as the current one.

Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan Borough president, criticized the mayor’s lack of transparency in releasing his budget. “This document is political,” he said. “This is not the way we should be running the city.”

The deep cuts to the city’s schools that Mr. Bloomberg will unveil on Friday are similar to what he proposed in February, though the number of layoffs are slightly less.

Mr. Bloomberg, during his budget presentation at City Hall, faulted the state for the necessity of teacher layoffs. In 2008, he said, the state paid 45 percent of the city’s education costs; next fiscal year, he said, the state would pay 39 percent.

"I understand the frustration that parents and teachers feel; I feel it too," he said. " We are not going to walk away from our education system."

He's not going to walk away from the education system?

He's laying off 4,278 teachers even as he increases spending on outside tech consultant contracts and projects by $550 million.

What the hell do you call that?

I call that walking away from the education system and doubling down on the system of cronyism and nepotism this guy stands for.

Oh, and he literally walked away for the budget presentation:

Council members seemed universally upset by the budget - both the content and presentation.

...

Several took umbrage at the fact that unlike in most years, Mr. Bloomberg did not show up to give his usual short address to members before turning the presentation over to his budget director, Mark Page. They also described Mr. Page’s presentation as unusually brief - about 30 minutes versus the normal hour.

"His attitude was like, ’gotta go,’ " said Council member Letitia James of Brooklyn. "It reflects the mayor’s disdain, his disrespect and his lack of coalition-building with the city council."

More later.