bloombergNew York City could be forced to fire nearly all of the 15,000 teachers hired over the last five years unless the state's teacher seniority rules are scrapped, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Sunday. That's on top of plans to cut more than 6,000 teachers in the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Bloomberg reiterated his demand that the state do away with a law that requires the most recently hired teachers be laid off first. If the state's budget plan cuts $1 billion education aid to NYC schools, as expected, the city should be allowed to take merit into account when determining who gets laid off, Bloomberg said.

Publicly, Gov. Cuomo restated that he would not consider changing the seniority rules as part of the state budget. But the New York Post reported today that Cuomo is privately considering a compromise that would allow Bloomberg to lay off between 2,000 and 4,000 "nonteaching teachers," regardless of their seniority. Targeted teachers would include those who, until recently, filled New York's infamous "rubber rooms" and nonworking teachers from schools that have been closed due to poor performance.

The full details of the secret plan will likely come to light when Cuomo reveals his budget plan this week.