ALBANY – Taking a cue from his chief ally in the battle over public education reform, Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday refused repeated invitations to assail Governor Pataki and his proposed spending plan for New York City schools, choosing instead to highlight the accomplishments of his tenure and the potential positive impact of additional reforms.

Speaking at a joint legislative hearing on education three weeks to the day after some downstate Democrats blamed Mayor Bloomberg for letting Mr. Pataki off the hook on school spending, Mr. Klein told lawmakers that attendance rates at new, smaller schools in New York are better than the citywide average and that the citywide graduation rate is at a 19-year high.

Mr. Klein also said his plan to reduce class sizes by increasing the number of schools could get a boost from the announcement by the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn last week that it plans to close down 22 of its 147 parochial schools. Mr. Klein said he has met with Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio about leasing buildings for district use and that education department staff members are currently in talks with the diocese.

“I have personally met with the bishop and our staff is probably meeting, as we speak, with the diocese,” Mr. Klein said. “We definitely would like to buy or lease as many of those building as possible.” A spokesman for the diocese, Frank Russo, said he was not aware of discussions to lease or buy any of the schools slated for closure.

On the biggest issue of the day, Mr. Klein was diplomatic. A court-appointed panel of special masters recommended in December that spending on city schools be more than $20 billion over the next five years to correct what it described as a prolonged inequity against city schoolchildren. Mr. Pataki has responded by proposing to increase spending on New York City schools next year by $280 million.

Yesterday, Mr. Klein described Mr. Pataki’s budget proposal as “woefully inadequate,” but declined to say whether the governor should appeal the Campaign for Fiscal Equity ruling to the State Court of Appeals. The governor said later in the day that he will appeal a ruling issued in the CFE case Monday night. Mr. Klein also said that while lawmakers and district officials should come together on a solution, the city is firmly opposed to paying any of the cost of resolving the case.

Mr. Klein thanked Mr. Pataki for proposing in his budget legislation that the chancellor of the New York City Department of Education be able to apply for an unlimited number of charter schools. Current state law provides for no more than 100 charter schools statewide.

Assemblyman Steven Sanders, the Democratic chairman the Assembly Committee on Education, asked Mr. Klein three times if he was outraged by Mr. Pataki’s spending proposal for New York City Schools. Mr. Klein responded by expressing disappointment instead. “It’s always seemed to me better to discuss your concerns in nouns and verbs rather than in inflammatory language,” Mr. Klein said. “The words I chose to describe the governor’s proposal, ‘woefully inadequate,’ were not chosen lightly.”

In addition to concerns over the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, Mr. Klein is currently embroiled in a bitter contract dispute with the United Federation of Teachers. The UFT’s president, Randi Weingarten, listened to Mr. Klein’s testimony yesterday before offering testimony of her own. When asked by a legislator how the 20-month contract negotiations with the UFT were going, Mr. Klein laughed before saying that they were “at a low point.”

A spokeswoman for the education department said talks were stalled over several issues. Ms. Weingarten did not respond to a request from The New York Sun for comment.

According to Mr. Klein, citywide academic performance in math has improved while test results in English are inconsistent. He said that in grades 3 through 8 math scores increased nearly five points on average. He said gains in English by students in grades 3 and 8 were the biggest one-year improvements since testing began. “Make no mistake,” he said, “Our Children First initiatives are paying off.”

Mr. Klein outlined a number of reform proposals he said would help decrease dropout rates while improving academic performance. He described education as the “most important domestic issue” America faces today, citing the pressure that global competition places on young people to perform at a high level. “I think we as a nation are underinvested in education,” Mr. Klein said. “I think what you need to do is invest in accountability and outcomes.”

Mr. Klein cited as pressing needs throughout city schools shortages of math, science, and special education teachers. He also said the district’s least experienced teachers are often assigned to the least prepared students, a situation he described as “a recipe for failure.” Teachers often dispute this claim. Mr. Klein said the statistics that “haunts him most” is that 54% of students who attend city high schools graduate and that fewer than 20% earn a Regents diploma.

Implying that many of the schools’ problems would be solved with additional funds, Mr. Sanders attempted to persuade Mr. Klein into stepping up his criticism of Mr. Pataki. Mr. Sanders said that state increases could not be expected unless “individuals who feel aggrieved by the budget are willing to draw a bright line in terms of the distance between what is needed and what is provided.” He cited a recent Court of Appeals case that affirmed strong executive budgetary powers as reason for stronger criticism.

The chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Stephen Saland, responded to Mr. Sanders by casting the CFE ruling as sidestepping the legislative process. And in a sign of acrimonious negotiations to come, Mr. Saland said he “took issue” with the suggestion by Messrs. Bloomberg and Klein that the city pay nothing. But Mr. Klein remained firm. To reporters after his testimony, he said: “I think the mayor has been very clear on this, that there are no additional moneys because he has fixed costs and, frankly, it’s been years of shortchanging our city schools.”