Gov. Spitzer's budget proposal today was unlike any to come down the pike in a long time - perhaps ever. There will be much more to say about the details (significant increases to education budgets, significant enhancements to school accountability systems, a lifting of the charter cap by 50 for Chancellor Joel Klein and 100 for the rest of the state, a proposed tuition tax deduction, etc.) but those will all be negotiated with the legislature later on.

But it was the tone that was astonishing. As are some of the side-battles that are already playing out. Azi, at The Politicker, notes that Lt. Gov. David Paterson, who may have been the first politician in history to link budget reforms with Raskilnikov's conscience, in Crime and Punishment, is calling on legislators to "confess" to having sinned in past budgets. Check this out, from Paterson:

"I'm real serious," Paterson told [Azi] in the concourse of the Capitol. "I mean, look at the results. We have poor performance scores in education in almost all our major cities. We're not graduating at the level we could be. We spend twice the national average for health care. This is not exactly a healthy state. And I think that one of the real honest ways to reignite the public trust is to recognize that you're part of a process. I voted for a lot of those budgets, so I'll take responsibility right now."

And how would a lawmaker actually going about confessing?

"I just did."

This is a budget that flies in the face of budget's past. It makes it clear that Albany business as usual was not only expensive, it simply wasn't working. Spitzer made it clear in his presentation that the madness needs to stop, especially the backroom-deal method of school funding. The governor notes that we are at the top of the heap, nationally, in terms of school spending but we aren't at the top of the heap in terms of results. And there was little rationale behind school funding, other than honoring political deals.

A few other notes:

-- The battles that are about to break out between Spitzer and the Legislature may not be for the feint of heart. Notice all the "steamroller" talk, the lines being drawn in the sand over the Comptroller selection, etc. This does not sound like a Legislature that is ready to engage in any acts of contrition right now. And it doesn't sound like a governor who wants to be steamrolled. Who will blink?

-- UFT President Randi Weingarten released a very interesting statement on the budget proposal, essentially praising the SUNY and Board of Regents charter school authorizing process, while opposing plans to allow NYC to bypass the charter approval process. "The governor's proposal to give Chancellor Klein 50 charters to dole out as he wishes runs counter to his pledge of top-to-bottom accountability," Weingarten said. "The current chartering entities, SUNY and the Board of Regents, have strict accountability and there's no reason to add another entity."

The Chalkboard thinks that is a much more interesting debate than charters vs. no charters.

-- NYSUT still isn't happy about all the charter school talk.

-- I thought this was amazing last year when I first encountered the friction, but it is still striking to watch the mini-skirmishes breaking out in the smaller classes vs. universal pre-K war. I think the most interesting argument the smaller class size supporters are about to make is that Spitzer's campaign ads clearly suggested he was a smaller class size guy. When did the pre-K people flip him?

-- Stealing from the statement that NYCSA President Bill Phillips put out, it is very interesting to see the context under which Spitzer is justifying his support for the charter cap lift. It's not just about creating more models of accountability, but a direct response to the "crisis of urban education." And coupled with record increases in funding for public education, the approach can best be described as comprehensive, and perhaps for the first time in state history, rising to the level of the problem itself.