An eleventh-hour push by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Gov.David A. Paterson to improve New York State’s chances to receive up to $700 million in federal education financing faltered on Monday after the State Legislature balked at the plan.
The governor had called the Legislature into session Monday night to consider a proposal that would increase the number of charter schools allowed in the state, which would help the state in the federal competition known as Race to the Top.
But a bill put forth by the governor differs in key respects from one proposed by the legislative leadership. Both would allow more charters, but the legislative proposal would also place significant new restrictions on them, drawing protests from the mayor and charter school advocates.
Both the State Senate and the State Assembly refused to put a bill to a vote Monday. They were due back in session Tuesday morning.
For weeks, Mr. Bloomberg and his schools chancellor, Joel I. Klein, had refused to endorse the state’s application for Race to the Top money, in part to pressure state lawmakers to raise a statewide cap on the number of charter schools. The competition will award $4 billion in federal stimulus money to states that present the most innovative plans for educational reform, including their willingness to start charter schools.
