No Trees Growing In My Brooklyn

Says Mayor Mike: Maybe the "feller behind the tree" upstate:

The city's taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for the mammoth increases in education spending recommended this week by a panel of court-appointed special referees, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday.

The referees, who were charged with devising a plan for providing New York City schoolchildren with the "sound basic education" they deserve under the state constitution, urged Albany lawmakers to boost allocations to city schools by more than $23 billion over the next five years. They didn't specify what portion of that sum the city should have to pay, but they warned that Albany lawmakers should not require the city to pay too much.

At a Bronx news conference yesterday, Mr. Bloomberg for the first time addressed how he would finance the referees' proposal.

"I don't think anybody seriously thinks that we should raise our taxes in this city," he said, adding that this is already "a high-tax city" where raising taxes even higher isn't a real option.

"We only have a certain amount of money," he said.

The beginning of wisdom.