ALBANY – Two weeks after Mayor Bloomberg said he would have to abandon plans to build 21 schools in New York City due to a lack of state support, Senate Republicans appear to be moving toward approving a $1.8 billion capital funding plan that would allow those schools to be built, a Republican senator of Brooklyn said.

Senator Martin Golden told The New York Sun yesterday that Republicans, who have battled Mr. Bloomberg over how much the state owes the city’s school system, would probably back a $1.8 billion bonding plan that would cost the state an immediate $200 million. Part of that money could come from the budget surplus for 2005-06 that the Senate estimates is near $4 billion -double the estimate made by the governor’s office in January.

Saying Albany is “shortchanging” city schools, Mr. Bloomberg last month threatened to scrap 21 school construction projects and dozens of building repairs unless the city received more capital funding from the state. On Monday, a city panel approved the elimination of those projects from the mayor’s construction plan.

The capital funding is part of the additional spending that a state judge has said Albany owes to New York City schools to ensure that students receive a “sound basic” education, a constitutional requirement. Following the recommendation of a court-appointed panel, a Supreme Court justice, Leland DeGrasse ordered Albany to spend an additional $14 billion on operations funding over four years and an additional $9 billion in capital money over five years. The governor’s office has appealed the judge’s order.

Majority Leader Joseph Bruno yesterday released estimates of how much taxes would have to be raised to be able to afford to comply with the judge’s order. His office estimated that the personal income tax would have to be raised by 30% and the sales tax by 78%. Those numbers assume that the state, in complying with the judge’s order, would be spending more on struggling school districts in the states, especially in upstate urban areas.

Mr. Golden said it was far more likely that Senate Republicans would approve a plan to comply with the amount that is owed in capital expenses be cause that portion could be paid for through bonds. Operational expenses would come directly out of state revenue. He said it’s possible that the Senate could approve the remainder of the capital expenses in the next few years.

The mayor’s threat to scrap the school projects posed a real problem for the Senate Republicans, who have a four-seat majority. Many of the school construction projects are located in the districts of Republican senators who are facing re-election in November.