Bloomberg Makes East Side Pick

By [Dan Rivoli] Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing Assembly Member Jonathan Bing"s re-election campaign. Bing is facing a primary from high school teacher Gregg Lundahl, who is being supported by the United Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO. In previous races, Bing ran with support from the teachers union. But earlier this year, he introduced a bill that would end the use of â??last hired, first fired practice of laying off teachers. The state budget cuts would have caused the Upper East Side and the South Bronx to lose about 20 percent of teachers, some of the highest in the city. The seniority-based layoffs would be replaced with a panel of teachers, principals and administrators that would decide whom to layoff. Seniority would still factor into any decision. The teachers union saw this as an attack on the seniority system. In endorsing Lundahl, AFL-CIO President Denis Hughes said, â??an attack on seniority rights is a threat to the most basic guarantees our system provides to many working people. â??Jonathan Bing has attempted to strip away the seniority rights of workers who have dedicated the majority of their lives to a chosen line of work, Hughes said in a statement. Bloomberg"s Department of Education supported the bill, saying the new system would â??empower principals to keep the best teachers. With Bing fending off a primary challenge, Bloomberg threw his support to the four-term Assembly member, via a press release statement. He cites Bing"s independence in Albany. â??From his work to strengthen our city"s schools, to the legislation he has championed in the Assembly contributing to our economic recovery, to his passionate advocacy on behalf of our educational and cultural institutions that provide so many valuable services to New Yorkers, Jonathan has repeatedly shown that he is the courageous, effective leader we need right now in Albany, Bloomberg said in his endorsement statement. Bing"s campaign noted that Bloomberg, who is also a constituent of Bing"s, received 83 percent of the vote in this district during his 2009 re-election campaign.