Mayor Bloomberg’s possible support of a bid by a Democratic City Council member to unseat a longtime Republican state senator reflects the mayor’s fervent desire to see the city receive court-ordered education funding from the state, political strategists said yesterday.

The mayor’s stance on education funding may even lead him to back a Democrat for governor this fall, one observer said.

With the election nine months away, Mr. Bloomberg has made no public endorsement, but there are indications that he will support Joseph Addabbo Jr., a Democrat of Queens who is considering a run for the state Senate seat held by Serphin Maltese, a Republican.

Mr. Maltese has held the 15th District seat since 1989. Mr. Addabbo, the son of a congressman, is known as a moderate Democrat. “It’s our understanding that the mayor plans to be very helpful to Mr. Addabbo, should he run,” an adviser to Mr. Addabbo who is forming an exploratory committee on his behalf,Scott Levenson, said yesterday.

A Bloomberg adviser confirmed the mayor’s interest in an Addabbo candidacy, citing education funding as a key issue. “He’s definitely considering it, but no decision has been made,” the adviser, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said of a possible endorsement. “It’s precisely because he feels strongly about supporting candidates that do the right thing for the city, and right now the most important issue is education aid for the city.”

Mr. Bloomberg has been increasingly critical of Albany for not budgeting billions of dollars in school funding owed to the city under a court ruling in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. The mayor on Friday implored spectators at a Brooklyn public school to call their state legislators and the governor to demand more money.

Governor Pataki has appealed the court ruling, saying the state simply does not have enough money to comply with the court’s directive to spend an additional $5.6 billion a year on city schools.

The mayor’s aggressive push for the school money is tied to his strong public standing following his decisive victory in November, Mr. Levenson said. “I think it’s clear the mayor is taking advantage of his popularity and taking on fights on behalf of the city’s children that might have been inconceivable prior to his re-election.”

That Mr. Bloomberg, a Republican, could support a bid to overturn the GOP’s 35-26 majority in the state Senate is not surprising, a professor of public affairs at Baruch College, Douglas Muzzio, said.

“The mayor prides himself in being a nonpartisan mayor, though Republican in name,” Mr. Muzzio said.

Beyond the Legislature, if Mr. Bloomberg wants support on increased education funding to the city, his best bet may be a Democrat such as the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, an early front-runner in the governor’s race. “I can see him endorsing Spitzer, depending on the Republican nominee,” Mr. Muzzio said.

One top GOP gubernatorial contender, John Faso, has already said he would not abide by the court ruling on education funding, telling The New York Sun last month that the courts “can’t make the Legislature and the governor appropriate money.”

Referring to Mr. Faso, Mr. Muzzio said, “The mayor can’t support someone who believes that.”