New York, NY —

Schools chancellor Joel Klein says he'll have to lay off up to 8,500 teachers if Gov. David Paterson's budget cuts are adopted. During testimony in Albany today, Klein called on lawmakers to reduce hundreds of millions of dollars in education cuts. He also asked them to change a law that requires principals to get rid of their newest hires during layoffs to protect more senior teachers.

"We may have to pull a math teacher who's getting great results helping over-age students get back on track from his classroom and replace him with a teacher who struggled with that population in a previous school," Klein says.

Klein also wants to stop paying teachers if their positions are eliminated and they aren't picked up by another school after a year. The teachers union opposes this change.

The city now claims the total budget gap to schools for the 2010-2011 year would be $1.2 billion under Paterson's proposed budget. That includes a cut in state funding of more than $400 million, plus an additional $80 million expense the city has to pay because the state is now paying for mandated summer school for special education students. The city says it's also been shortchanged because enrollment grew. And the rising labor and contractual costs contribute to another $600 million expense.