NEW YORK, NY May 14, 2003 — It was just four short months ago that Mayor Bloomberg was greeted with cheers, when he announced his plan to re-organize the city school system. Since then, however, the mayor and his chancellor have come under fire from some of the same players who originally supported them. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

Mayor Bloomberg is down in the polls and it's not just the public that's giving him low marks. The president of the teachers union compared his educational policy board to a bunch of bobble head dolls. City Republicans in the State Senate don't want him messing with the community school districts (partly because their own schools are doing alright). And then there's the lawsuit that's seeking to stop these changes altogether. It's been joined by Democratic legislators, city council members, 2 members of congress and the Principals Union. Steve Sanders chairs the Assembly's Education Committee.

SANDERS: The law does not give the mayor or the chancellor permission to eliminate the 32 community districts, to eliminate superintendents, to eliminate representation for communities.

A hearing is scheduled in early June before a Manhattan Judge.

Mayor Bloomberg has attacked his critics for trying to protect a status quo that's failing too many children. And he's defended the Chancellor's plan to replace the current districts with 10 new regions that will be much more efficient.

BLOOMBERG: We are going to cut out the kind of patronage and waste that existed before. I think Joel Klein is doing a spectacular job of doing that. And the louder a handful of entrenched interests scream the more the public should be satisfied we really are doing it right.

Chancellor Klein says the reorganization will save the school system 100 million dollars. But it's going to cost twice as much to create a new structure, and hire all of the math and reading coaches who will train teachers in the new curriculum. The teachers union says that money would be better spent making classes smaller. The union's also sued the Bloomberg Administration for laying off hundreds of school aides, most of whom are minorities.

It was not even a year ago that Mayor Bloomberg persuaded Albany to give him control over the city schools. The powers that be all seemed to be lining up in his favor. But today, they look more like a firing squad. Some say that's because the mayor failed to anticipate the politics of education. Political consultant Norman Adler says lawmakers are up in arms because - for 30 years - community school districts were a link to their constituents.

ADLER: Local superintendents understood where their bread was buttered and it was buttered in part by the local politicians who supported them. Local politicians could play a role, they could be the intermediaries between the community and the superintendents. This doesn't work when you centralize the system.

And in a time of drastic budget cuts, he says it's not surprising that Bloomberg's also angered the unions.

By alienating so many powerful players, even those who support the mayor's reforms concede he's now on the defense. And with falling poll numbers he's also in danger of losing the public. But the mayor and his chancellor say they aren't daunted by the criticism. At the Convent Avenue Baptist Church in Harlem, Sunday, Chancellor Klein straight went to the people.

KLEIN: The time for excuses is over, the time for blaming others is over. The time for teaching and supporting our children and families is now.

Later, Klein acknowledged he could still do more to get out the message. He's also convinced he'll prevail in the courts, and that parents will see the value of his reforms. Many of them aren't interested in these disputes. They just want results.

At PS 123 in Harlem, just about 20 percent of the students are meeting state standards in reading and math. Jacqueline Amis and LaTonya Dixon are each mothers of three children. They say they don't know much about the mayor's reforms.

AMIS: Cause I'm not really into all that. Because what I see, that's just enough for me. And it's not good.

DIXON: We never get anything. We don't get books, we don't get computers we don't get anything. Doesn't make a difference.

Mayor Bloomberg campaigned for the job by pledging he would make a difference in the city schools. But the former businessman who's proud of not being a professional politician is now getting a tough education in local politics. For WNYC I'm Beth Fertig.