Mayor Mike Bloomberg presented his nearly $66 billion final budget today, and confirmed he plans to eliminate 6,000 teaching  jobs -- 4,278 through layoffs and about 1500 through attrition.

Bloomberg blamed the state for the fiscal woes he said are forcing him to cut the city's teaching staff.  The state paid 45 percent of the city’s education costs in 2008, but next year they will only pickup 39 percent, according to a New York Times report. Bloomberg said he would appeal to the state for more funding, but as Albany's budget has already been finalized, more money could be very hard to come by.

The teacher's union was quick to criticize the mayor: "Same smoke, same mirrors, same attempt to blame others for his decision to lay off thousands of teachers, despite increased state aid, hundreds of millions in new revenues and a surplus that has grown to more than $3.2 billion," said United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew in a statement.

The budget won't be final until the City Council approves it, which they must do by July 1.  A hearing on the Department of Education's expense budget will be held on June 1, and public testimony on the education budget will be heard on June 6. A coalition of politicians, teachers, and community groups plans to hold a mammoth protest of the budget on May 12.

Last year, the mayor also threatened massive teacher layoffs, but backed off on the plan after the city eliminated pay raises for all teachers and principals for the next two years.