New York's De Blasio still has a lot to learn about being mayor

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. (AP)

Bruised and battered from his first collision with Albany, Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to put a smiley face on the outcome.

But beyond the dollars he got and the tax hike he didn’t, the key test is whether he actually learned anything.

To judge from his early reaction, he learned something, but not nearly enough.

He learned that fighting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo guarantees him a bloody nose, and that Eva Moskowitz and the charter movement are more powerful than the teachers unions.

Indeed, de Blasio has, temporarily at least, stopped picking fights with the wrong people.

That explains his profuse praise Monday for the governor he only recently accused of not caring about city kids.

And he wisely did not challenge the historic provisions that protect and expand charters beyond anything that existed before he tried to kill them.

To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post, click here.