Mayor Michael Bloomberg has submitted a letter to the state education department requesting a waiver that would allow publishing executive Cathie Black to serve as the city's next Schools Chancellor.

In the six-page letter to State Education Commissioner David Steiner, Bloomberg says in part, "Serving as Chancellor of the New York City schools requires the skills to address complex problems and new challenges with energy, creativity, and innovative solutions - and to build support among constituents for those solutions. Throughout her career, Ms. Black has worked to build strong relationships with colleagues and subordinates, to motivate them to succeed and hold them accountable, and to provide support and expertise when necessary."

The waiver is needed before Black takes over, due to her lack of prior education experience.

The Panel for Educational Policy voted Tuesday to let the mayor's office make that request.

A majority of the letter focuses on Black's business resume, calling her a leader who can build strong relationships, a bold thinker, an innovator in the use of new technology, and someone experienced with complex legal matters.

Bloomberg also says she has experience firing people when times get tough -- something the next Schools Chancellor could very likely face.

Black's education experience, meanwhile, is contained in one paragraph at the bottom of page four. In it, Bloomberg cites her work as a trustee at the University of Notre Dame, where he says she has experience approving curriculum changes and high level appointments. He also points to her role on the advisory council of a Harlem charter school, although he doesn't mention that she joined just recently. He also mentions her role on the board of the small Connecticut boarding school her children attended.

Bloomberg's argument for why current Schools Chancellor Joel Klein should get a waiver in 2002 was very different. His letter argued it should be because of Klein's "broad range of experience and success in government, business, the law, education, and the non-profit arena."

Already, the waiver process has been much slower than it was for Klein. Within 24 hours of announcing Klein's appointment, the mayor had submitted the waiver request. The following day, the state named the advisory panel. The day after, the panel voted in favor of granting Klein the waiver and the commissioner granted it.

The whole process took just four days.

Upon formal receipt of Bloomberg's latest waiver request, Commissioner Steiner will convene a panel of advisors.

He has not given a specific timeline for his decision.

Meanwhile, in a letter also sent Wednesday to Commissioner Steiner, former Mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins, and Rudolph Giuliani called on Steiner to grant the waiver.

They say Black has the right skill set for the job.

The letter reads in part, "Any past experience is necessarily incomplete. But at a turbulent time of severe budget cuts, maintaining organizational stability will be chief among the challenges facing the new Schools Chancellor, and it is clear that Ms. Black certainly has an extraordinary track record of managing large organizations through trying circumstances."

The former mayors also say approving Bloomberg's choice is important in order to maintain mayoral accountability for the school system.

Several other former and current elected officials have also endorsed Black, including former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Other members of the City Council gathered in City Hall Wednesday to call on Steiner to deny the wavier and to say that the appointment process should be more open.

"In order to teach in the schools you need to have a master's degree. Cathie Black couldn't teach in our schools, now she wants to run the system?" said Queen Councilman Mark Weprin.

"She didn't attend public schools, her children didn't attend public schools. Her experience as a manager is largely irrelevant," said Brooklyn Councilman Lewis Fidler.

"No vetting of this individual, no public hearing, no public process, no communication with anyone," said Manhattan Councilman Robert Jackson.

Also weighing in on the process is the United Federation of Teachers who, on Wednesday, approved a resolution that would require a nationwide search and “public engagement” process for future Schools Chancellor candidates.

In it, the resolution criticizes Mayor Bloomberg for "conducting his selection process for the chancellor in secret, and withholding from the public the most basic information on that process."