Even if Mayor Bloomberg’s mayoralty ended tomorrow, it would be one for the history books. In six short months, he has achieved what eluded his predecessors for 25 years. His victory in gaining an “understanding” with State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, heretofore the most prominent obstacle to reform, is due in no small part to the clarity and consistency of purpose and unfailingly civil tone Mr. Bloomberg has maintained from his first day in office. Congratulations are due, and will be offered by his friends and enemies. With that said, the deal he has apparently accepted puts us in a mind to recollect the Stavisky-Goodman bill, passed in 1976, following the first override of a governor’s veto in 104 years. The bill requires the city to fund schools at a level no less than the average spending over the last three years, thus functionally limiting the city’s discretion over a large chunk of its finances, although the city has had some slack in its maintenance of effort when state and federal funding increased.

Our most significant concern with this new deal, which is completed in principle, but still must be determined in some of its particulars, is that when Mr. Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno meet to reconcile their bills, the city will be left holding the bag. As important as is school reform, the city must not be left with an unfunded obligation that gives it no discretion in its education dollars, and no way, if efficiency increases are achieved, to route excess dollars into the rest of the budget, which is presently looking into the maw of a multi-billion dollar deficit.

Not mentioned publicly today were the overruns in the capital budget over the past few years. In this Wednesday’s New York Sun, Mr. Silver proposed giving Mr. Bloomberg, who had not requested this power, sole control over the School Construction Authority, which has built schools at a cost per square foot well in excess of what it takes to build a luxury building in Manhattan. We hope Mr. Silver is good to his word.

With the issue of mayoral control nearly settled, the focus will move to the contract negotiations with the United Federation of Teachers. Mr. Bloomberg’s patient civility contrasts with Randi Weingarten, who has been increasingly vitriolic in her attacks on the mayor, although the two engaged in a marathon bargaining session today. Her stated disregard of the Taylor Law and seemingly personal anger with the mayor have a whiff of the left ideology about them. When she joins with hooky-playing students to rally in front of City Hall with such educational luminaries as P. Diddy and Wyclef Jean, it sends a signal.

Even with mayoral control, however, the broader problem remains. New York City lacks a free and fair market for education. Public schools are hardly compelled to compete for students or funds, and in consequence have less motivation than their private counterparts to provide a quality education. So many are hoping this deal does not derail the movement toward charter schools, vouchers, and allowing parents to choose religious schools without financial penalty. Someday someone will write a book about how the historic reform agreed on today wouldn’t have happened in the first place without the voucher movement.