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The Times’ City Room blog today gave a peek behind the curtain that has frequently hidden Albany’s budget negotiations from public view — and showed that legislative agreement on major education issues may still be a ways off.

According to an internal memo leaked to the Times that appears to have been prepared by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office after the State Senate and Assembly each passed their own budgets last week, division between the governor and the two houses remains wide on each of the major education policy questions in the budget.

For each policy issue discussed, the 31-page memo lays out the governor’s position, the position of the Senate and the Assembly, and a column for possible compromises. None of the six issues listed related to kindergarten through 12th grade education have a potential compromise given.

And in one prominent case — the question of whether or not to end the state’s current layoff-based seniority system — the memo states that the Assembly’s position is “unknown,” which suggests that there has not yet been much discussion between the three parties on the issue.  (more…)