Mayor Bill de Blasio is skipping a meeting with state senators considering whether to renew his control over city schools.
His decision, revealed Wednesday by his staff, comes a day after state Assembly members voted to give the mayor three more years of control over city schools.
Republican Senate Leader John Flanagan of Suffolk County said he's "extremely disappointed" that de Blasio won't attend Thursday's hearing in New York City, which Flanagan said was arranged to accommodate the Democratic mayor's schedule.
A de Blasio spokesman said the mayor has already made a "compelling case" for renewing the policy. De Blasio wants a seven-year extension and gave his pitch to lawmakers earlier this month in Albany.
Flanagan criticized de Blasio at that time for not knowing enough about his city's schools.
The policy will expire June 30 unless lawmakers vote to extend it.
Last year state legislators renewed the policy, first implemented in 2002, for only one year.
